Linux Might Be A Desktop Operating System After All

Linux has, in the main, been characterized as a server operating system.  Not because of any design emphasis within the maverick operating system, but rather because almost all of its success has been in the low-cost server market.  Windows market power in the desktop market has made it very difficult for Linux to get much traction there.

But times may be changing.

Just this week a very Main Street computer source, www.Wal-Mart.com, announced that it would be selling very low cost desktop systems pre-loaded with Lindows, a Linux OS which includes the ability to run (some) Windows software.  The Lindows machines join a previous offering from Wal-Mart of No Operating System loaded computers.  In either case, machines are about $100 less than if loaded with a copy of Windows. You can find Lindows at www.Lindows.com. 

The Wal-Mart machines are built by Microtel and cost from $299 to $499, with monitors an additional $130 or so.  These are not little machines – they come with generous amounts of memory and storage and, at the high end, with the usual assortment of storage options and audio output.

Also, Lindows, which has a warehouse of Linux and other software, available for download over the web on a $99 per year subscription basis, offers three free software downloads from its warehouse as part of the Wal-Mart offer.

We think this is the first time we’ve seen Linux offered to the mainstream retail customer.  It will be interesting to see if they find the offer appealing.

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