Why Linux on the desktop is still struggling
Summary: The ubiquity of Microsoft's desktop office suite is one reason the company has remained a leader in the PC segment -- and that same Office ubiquity is the main reason Linux still struggles.
I have had my Linux laptop for several months now and I really like the platform. The performance is better, because the operating system has a smaller, more elegant footprint. Applications, available on the platform, are more easily controlled. And, to date, none have hung the laptop to where I needed to force the laptop to shutdown in order to regain control.
The tools required to succeed on today's enterprise desktop, however, are definitely not Linux friendly.
The ubiquity of Microsoft's desktop office suite is one of the reasons, if not the main reason, that Microsoft has been able to maintain its position as the leader in this segment. And compatibility with the office suite is one of the key reasons that Apple has been able to penetrate the market, while Linux still struggles.
The applications that are used in the enterprise are simply not available on the Linux desktop.
The numbers vary slightly by site, but most who track the segment agree with Statowl's numbers shown below for 2012:
- Microsoft: 84.49%
- Apple: 14.42%
- Linux: .86%
- Other: .21%
What is not shown above is the iPad penetration numbers, which is disrupting the PC segment.
Today, many of my technology brethren are running Microsoft at the office, not by choice, but because that is what they were given by their employers. When it comes time to select a personal system, many today are choosing Apple. What is holding Apple's PC numbers back? The price.
So, why not Linux?
The applications that are used in the enterprise are simply not available on the Linux desktop. One workaround is to run the tools in a virtual machine (VM). This is the approach that I have taken for the past few months. I am running Red Hat on a workstation, with 2.6 GHz processor, and 8 GB of memory.
Running a virtual machine allows me to run the enterprise-level applications that are both required, and nice to have, for techie-types like myself (IT architect).
Microsoft tools such as, Word, Excel, Power Point, Visio, and Project (optionally) are must haves. Other examples of the core connectivity tools missing from the Linux platform are WebEx and Goto Meeting.
Even applications like Netflix and Skype, nice to have when you travel as much as I do, are not available. That said, running any of these resource-hungry tools in a VM requires a good deal of patience. Every minute or so the screen will hiccup, slow, or freeze -- while the VM works out the cycles required.
The process to build a presentation takes a good deal longer in a VM than it would in Linux. And, honestly, it is frustrating to go back to the equivalent x386 speeds.
The good news: For the creation of documents and spreadsheets, a good number of options are available that will allow you to save your work as a Microsoft Office-compatible document. OpenOffice, LibreOffice, and Google Docs are good alternatives to Microsoft Office tools.
The bad news: There are no good solutions for presentations, the creation of diagrams, or project plans.
The formatting is about 75% there for presentations, for example. If you like to work in layers, as I do, the presentation, when converted to the Microsoft format, simply stacks the layers, with transparent backgrounds typically being assigned to white (i.e., non-transparent).
This sort of functionality adds hours to an already long day, and leaves me wanting a different system.
Are you running Linux on your desktop? How have you gotten around the limitations noted above? Let me know.
See also:
- Red Hat plans to do for OpenStack what it did for Linux
- openSUSE 12.2: My first take
- Intel's new Clover Trail chip will support Android & Linux
- The five best things coming in Ubuntu 12.10 Linux
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Talkback
Skype?
Ever heard of of LibreOffice? There are whole non-US government institutions around the world that _choose_ it over M$ products, you know. You would think you would at least give it a go.
RedHat
I am running RedHat and could not get it to work correctly.
Running Red Hat is NOT the way to judge Linux
i think he has a point
Green32.com
The Way
if you want efficiency Mint 13 64 the mate version
and then install the last version of wine:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntu-wine/ppa
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install wine1.5
the last thing is DockBarX and MS office on wine, search and install them!
This way you have a desktop way better than what you get from MS or any other distros IMHO!
THIS is linuxes problem..
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntu-wine/ppa
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install wine1.5
hey loose most of the windows audience... who on earth wants to go back to dos style learning curves ? Sure it might be faster to type than navigate a gui... but people do NOT want it..
no need to use the code i have written
but i didn't want to go into that process step by step...just enter those commands and end of the story!
Different gui
disadvantage for most users
@lewmur wrote "Running Red Hat is NOT the way to judge Linux"
"The tools required to succeed on today's enterprise desktop
Note that the author specifically wrote "today's enterprise desktop". What are today's enterprise Linux distros?
o Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) Desktop (and Workstation)
o SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop (SLED)
o Canonical's Ubuntu
What makes these distros enterprise desktops is the support provided by Red Hat, SUSE and Canonical. Also, both Red Hat and SUSE are represented on The Document Foundation's Board of Directors and Advisory Board.
Running the Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop *is a fine way* to judge Linux for enterprises.
P.S. Both SLED and Ubuntu are fine alternatives for the enterprise. Google will vouch for Ubuntu as they use it in their own enterprise.
That's the problem
Personally, I recently gave up on Linux after many many years of trying to make it work in my life. It always came down to what I was willing to sacrifice in order to use it. Finally, I realized that I don't want to sacrifice ANYTHING. My time is worth far more than the many thousand dollar cost of the software I use on Windows. Linux is a major time sink. It's for people who have far more time than money. Whether it's command line configuration of obscure system settings, or time spent redoing a shared Word document because Libre Office or Open Office scrambled the formatting again. It comes down to whether you want to spend your time tweaking an OS or getting work done. Aside from Android on portable devices, Linux is still the hobbyist platform it was well over a decade ago. The lack of change in market share reflects that.
Installing Windows programs is not as easy as installing Linux programs.
Absolutely not true. Don't think I don't know better. I've been using Windows since 3.0 and it isn't all that easy. Tell me which version I should download: 32-bit or 64-bit. Most people don't know which they have. Tell me how to install a large format hard drive on an older version of Windows. Can't do it any more. That's why I switched to Linux. Yes, I have paid $300 for a new copy of Windows, installed on my hard drive. I had to sit at the computer store (a local chain) for over an hour and help their techs install it. Linux installs and runs in much less time and I don't need to dig out all of my peripheral driver CDs to do it. Oh, and I don't have to have my computer connected to the internet 24/7/365 in order to allow Bill Gates to check whether I'm running legal copies of all the software on my computer. It just works. Oh, and I don't need to run an anti-virus program, an anti-spyware program and ANOTHER anti-virus program in order to keep from getting hacked.
if linux takes less of your time to do the things you want to do
I find
Of course, a lot of that is familiarity. Libre Office, for instance still has the pull down menu system, and I know where the options that I use often are.
MS Office has the Ribbon systems, which often gets in my way.
There is one Application that I use on Linux that I can't get on Windows (LyX), and one Application that I use on Windows that I can't get on Linux (AutoCAD).
Other than that, it pretty much a wash. Good working habits and a good antivirus will protect Windows, though, I still have to re-install a totally hosed Windows system roughly once a year. Linux I have never had to re-install because of malware, though Linux changes so rapidly that I do have to re-install the distribution I am using roughly once every two years, just to keep current.
You're an idiot.
Not even close
Majority of the PC/Laptop users are dumb idiots
You are arguing for the sake of arguing. What BillDem said was absolutely correct and even you know this.
Majority of the PC/Laptop users are dumb idiots and windows is the best for them. I know Ubuntu is trying to change that but it still is not there yet
I agree but..
to compete with MS and Apple.