New Day Dawning for Desktop Linux?

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New Day Dawning for Desktop Linux?
By Richard Koman
November 14, 2007 12:53PM

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With Wal-Mart reporting that it is sold out of the Everex gPC -- a $200 Linux-based desktop -- some are suggesting that a new day for Linux is dawning. But, said analyst Greg Sterling, if initial gPC buyers find that not being able to run Microsoft Office is problematic, the excitement around the $200 Everex computer could soon dissipate.

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   Has the time for desktop Linux finally arrived? One relevant data point is that Wal-Mart has sold out of the Everex gPC, a Google-friendly, Linux-based PC priced at $199.

Wal-Mart says more units are on the way for the holiday season, but right now the retailer's Web site indicates the machines are sold out. The gPC has been one of the top performing desktop computers on You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login over the last few weeks, a company spokesperson said, but Wal-Mart did not release actual sales numbers.

The gPC runs a version of Linux called gOS, and uses a 1.5-GHz processor from Via Technologies, an 80-GB hard drive, and 512 MB of RAM.

Cloud Computing, Branded Google

The gOS is actually a customized version of Ubuntu, a Linux distribution that is considered a breakthrough for Linux on the desktop. "Ubuntu really seems to be rising as the user-friendly Linux OS of choice," Charles King, principal analyst with Pund-IT, said in a recent telephone interview. With the success of the gPC, that prediction could be coming true.

Built on the newly released Ubuntu 7.10, which might be the first Linux distribution to offer Mac-like 3D graphics meant to appeal to consumers, the gPC comes with standard open-source software such as Firefox and OpenOffice. But one interesting twist is that the computing experience is not desktop-oriented but rather focused on the "cloud," the universe of applications available online.

And for gPC users, that cloud is branded "Google."

"We recommend Google for just about everything ... Gmail, Gtalk, Calendar, Maps, Docs and Spreadsheets, and more. We'd like to welcome you to the idea that Google already is your 'operating system,'" said Paul Kim, Everex's director of marketing. "Our dream is to combine Linux with Google and put it into the mass market."

Wedge for Linux

The combination of Google applications and storage in the cloud with a consumer-friendly Linux OS has produced one of the first successful Microsoft Relevant Products/Services-free desktop experiences for consumers.

It's hard to tell whether the apparent success of the gPC means a new day is dawning for Linux desktops, Greg Sterling, principal analyst with Sterling Market Intelligence, said in a telephone interview. "I think people are responding to the price. At $200, its almost disposable," he said. "If it works, it's a great buy; if not, it's not a big loss."

But, Sterling said, "it's too early to say if it's going to be a wedge into Windows sales." Proof of that will only come with sustained sales data, he said. If initial buyers are dissatisfied with the experience, or find that not being able to run Microsoft Office is problematic, or don't realize that they're not buying a Windows machine, the initial excitement around a $200 computer could soon dissipate. (continued...)

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