Dell are looking at increasing their support for Linux running on their hardware. As part of this initiative they have set up a survey where you can tell them what areas you would like them to concentrate on and which distribution of Linux you would rather see preinstalled on your next Dell.
So if you have any interest in Linux support from major hardware suppliers, please take a few minutes to fill in the survey.
The question is, though, whether Linux on the desktop is actually any good. I don’t mean for techies, I mean for the average office worker who knows how to use Windows, whose applications all link together in Windows properly, etc. I don’t care what anyone says, I’ve never seen any other software that’s properly compatible with Microsoft Word or Excel.Until it’s good enough for proper work it’s probably flogging a dead horse. Having said that, if Dell comes into the Linux desktop arena then it might get better fairly quickly.
It’s been a long time since I saw a MS Office document that I couldn’t open successfully with the appropriate Open Office application.That might be because I only ever come across very simple office documents, but I do think that Open Office is getting better and better at handling all of MS Office’s quirks. I read recently that a company (it might have been Novell) had spent time making sure that Open Office could handle Office macros – not sure if that’s made it into the general release version yet.And I think your definition of the average Windows user might be a bit wrong. Most Windows users that I see have no idea of how to use most of the features in Office. You’re talking about a small minority of power users.
I’d rather Dell spend their time and energy making hardware that didn’t SUCK.
You’re thinking of Dyson; their hardware sucks like you wouldn’t believe! And all that without a bag. A modern miracle.