LOL!! And linux gets another punch square in the face! How much more abuse can linux take before it just throws in the towel and admits defeat? Lets look at the facts here, linux has not gained any ground and is losing it very quickly as evidenced by this article. The people have spoken, they do not want linux. It makes for a terrible user experience when you have to recompile all your applications to get them to run. The disappointing segfaults and kernel panics probably helped in making the decision to pull linux from the shelves as well.
Poor Linus, he must be sitting in a corner crying right now.
UK retailer pulls Linux netbooks from stores
Summary
Windows "has emerged as the preferred operating system because Windows makes it easier to share content and provides customers with a simpler, more familiar computing experience on the move," said a PC World spokesman.
Topics
PC World, the UK's biggest computing retailer, is to stop selling Linux netbooks in its stores.
Jeremy Fennell, PC World's category director, said in a statement on Monday that all the netbooks in PC World's stores will feature Microsoft Windows. He also said the chain will no longer stock netbooks with screens measuring less than 10 inches.
"Despite initial hype that netbooks would move more users onto the Linux platform, Microsoft has emerged as the preferred operating system because Windows makes it easier to share content and provides customers with a simpler, more familiar computing experience on the move," Fennell said.
See Also: Windows 7's netbook success is no slam-dunk
Customers want a "decent, usable" screen size and keyboard and a software system they are familiar with, Fennell added. "The screen size is important as customers want to be able to view pages easily, but the netbook also needs to be small enough to fit in a handbag. The 10-inch models fit the bill perfectly," he said.
PC World is owned by the electronics giant DSG International, which also owns the Currys electrical chain. A spokesperson for DSG International told ZDNet UK that Currys stores would also stop stocking non-Windows netbooks. The online operations of both PC World and Currys will, however, continue to carry netbooks with Linux as the operating system and with smaller screens.
The spokesperson refused to give precise figures for DSG International's Linux netbook sales, but said they accounted for less than 10 percent of the group's netbook sales.
DSG International's decision to drop Linux netbooks from its stores drew swift praise from Microsoft. Company blogger Brandon LeBlanc said the trend of "customers demanding Windows for its ease of use, compatibility and simplicity" was not unique to the UK, but was happening in the US as well.
"The latest data from NPD's retail tracking service showed that Windows now account for a whopping 98 percent of all small notebook PCs sales at retail in the US," LeBlanc wrote in a blog posted on Monday. "I think it's important to note that all of this momentum is happening before Windows 7 is even out! When Windows 7 does arrive (special report) […] I think the demand for Windows on these devices will increase even more."
Last year, PC manufacturer MSI said its Linux netbooks had four times the return rate of its Windows netbooks. Ubuntu sponsor Canonical said in October that the higher Linux return rates could be attributed to "teething problems" with running the operating system on netbooks.
On Wednesday, Canonical spokesman Gerry Carr said Microsoft had "the distribution, connections and relationships in place" to ensure Windows dominance in retail stores, but suggested that it was a different story with online sellers.
"There's a big disparity between physical store and online stores," Carr said, adding that 30 percent of the netbooks Dell sold online used Ubuntu Linux rather than Windows.
Carr also pointed out that, while there was a great deal of buzz around Windows 7, this week's Computex show in Taiwan included many manufacturers showing off new Linux-based netbooks and smartbooks.
"The IT industry is converging around different non-Microsoft-based platforms," Carr said. "Any thought that the war is over is a bit like George Bush's 'Mission Accomplished' statement."
This article was originally posted on ZDNet UK.
Talkback Most Recent of 62 Talkback(s)
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Loverock Davidson3rd Jun 2009 -
It was just a familiarity issue.
People are not familiar with the GUIs available on Linux (or provided by the Netbook manufacturers/retailers).
Still not sure why you insist on building from source (compiling) everything on Linux machines when you can use package managers like Synaptic Package manager or Yellow Dog Update Manager (used by RedHat) or the graphical tools related to software updates and repository management or Gentoo emerge similar to using BSD Ports. So sad!
B.O.F.H.3rd Jun 2009 -
Its a usability issue
People do not want to use linux due to an inconsistent GUI and compatibility problems.Loverock Davidson3rd Jun 2009 -
Yes, and
People want to use Windows because it's easier to work with and easier to share content as the article states.
The familiarity issue also applies. It's all three reasons!
ITLeader3rd Jun 2009 -
It is!
All three reasons FTW! Oh poor linux, going down so fast.Loverock Davidson3rd Jun 2009 -
Compatibility
People want to use Windows because it is more compatible with...Windows!! And it is easier to share [Windows-based] content. And the Windows GUI is more familiar because it is more like...Windows.
In other words, people who are used to Windows want to keep using it. I think they just don't know any better...
barence7734th Jun 2009 -
usability issue
Of course! They just find it hard to get their heads round the fact they do not get constantly infected by malware and viruses like they are used to with windows.
CexCells3rd Jun 2009 -
Who gets that anymore?
With Microsoft Windows increased security plus add-on programs like anti-malware and anti-virus its been too long since I've heard of anyone getting infected.Loverock Davidson3rd Jun 2009 -
I did when installed MS .NET Framework 3.5 SP1
Malware 1) installs silently, 2) opens up a security hole, and 3) is hard to remove.
Microsoft got it correct on all 3 check points in installing their ".NET Framework Assistant" as an extension to, get this, *FireFox*. More information at: http://techrepublic.com.com/5208-12846-0.html?forumID=102&threadID=310431
Dan Aquinas4th Jun 2009 -
No...
...it was a 'do not want' issue.
Sleeper Service3rd Jun 2009 -
That excuse ran out 5 years ago.
And its no more accuratge today then it was then.
No_Ax_to_Grind3rd Jun 2009 -
No distros ready to compete
Canonical's Ubuntu still seems too buggy to me, based on my anecdotal experience.
Fedora 11 is super fast and stable but requires some know-how to run.
OpenSUSE just seems bloated and better for desktops, but I haven't tried it on a laptop.
I'm sure others can chime in about the merits of other distros, but I don't think any has the star power of Microsoft or Apple.
Maybe with Google's entree with Android or Intel/Novell's with Moblin the gap could narrow.
Tried a Moblin Beta liveCD on a laptop I've got. It's pretty slick, a much better interface than Gnome or KDE for netbooks, IMO.
I think speed might actually make more of a difference than people say. Windows loading services and longer times to load from hibernate do make a difference, in my experience.
Maybe Windows 7 will close the gap. We'll see.
In any event, I don't see Windows dominance stopping any time soon, or ever, but that doesn't mean there can't be a good, viable alternative.
urbandk3rd Jun 2009 -
It's not nice...
...to kick someone when they're down.
wolf_z3rd Jun 2009 -
Loverock is Clueless
From your post is is obvious that you know very little or nothing at all about Linux. Ubuntu is the World's fastest growing Linux-Distro and it does not need any 'Malware' protection.
Look at the following sites to get Linux-Educated.
http://www.ubuntu.com/
http://slashdot.org/
http://distrowatch.com/
ichi-do-yo20th Jun 2009 -
"There's a big disparity between physical store and online stores,"
This might be because people going to physical stores
expect to be helped by staff and see by themselves what's
available. People buying netbooks online probably knew in
advance the pros and cons of using Linux and went ahead
and purchase netbooks loaded with it
Of course another explanation could be that with less
availability of netbooks with Linux in stores, people
interested in it had no choice but to buy online
markbn3rd Jun 2009
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