Desktop Linux most popular topic of 2007

The post not only drew more readers than any other, but 108 talkbacks, and with a rating of +59 it's obvious readers like what they heard.

At the time the post was written I was mainly contrasting Ubuntu's success, especially in international markets, with the continuing problems faced by Novell with its SUSE Linux, long sold as a desktop alternative.

Many of those who commented disagreed with my view, and it was a very lively discussion.

Since that post the market has changed yet again, with the introduction of GOS, sometimes called the Google OS or Google Linux. (That's its main screen shot, above.)

In fact GOS is not from Google, it's from a California start-up, which forked Ubuntu. Everex then offered the PC at Wal-Mart.

The apparent success of GOS in selling-through the channel means we're bound to see more from this duo in the coming year.

But it also means we're going to see more activity from Dell, H-P, and the other main PC vendors on desktop Linux, regardless of what that means for their relations with Microsoft.

So 2008 looks like a very exciting year.