Posted on Wednesday 1st of November 2006 at 05:43 in Linux

29.8% of XP users may move to Linux over Vista

Before I begin, let me qualify "XP Users" as tech-savvy XP users, the average person (like my mum) wouldn't know what Linux was let alone see it as a viable alternative.

Introduction to the experiment
For the past couple of weeks there has been a poll active on the front-page of this site asking users what they feel their best option is with Vista poking it's glossy head over the horizon. Clearly this vote was oriented around those of us who have an interest in remaining legal because pirates will crack Vista - that is an almost certainty - but for those of us who wish to remain legal have a crisis on our hands.

Personally I have no interest in Vista currently after playing with an underwhelming RC1 release and concluding that it's got Matrix Reloaded fever - special effects because you can, not because you should. It was an all too slow affair for my liking with a RAM footprint King Kong would have been proud of. I'm sure (nay, know) there are a lot of engine changes in Vista that aren't present in XP but I really don't care and therein lies Vista's biggest problem. I just don't care. It doesn't make me want to try it.

So, the question: What will you do when Vista lands?

The options:
- Upgrade to Vista
- Stay on XP
- Get a Mac
- Use Linux

The results
The quality of these results are open to interpretation as always because the sample is destined to have been affected by the overall opinion of the readership, so the figure open to trying Linux is probably less but the trend remains as an indication. The results were:



As can be seen in the results the majority of (law abiding) users will stay on XP for the foreseeable future with 38.6% of the vote. However, 10.5% said they would probably convert to using a Mac, 21.1% showed confidence and declared an intent to upgrade to Vista while a strong 29.8% expressed an interest in converting to Linux.

Why is that?
Well it looks like Microsoft are doing themselves out of customers, with fellow users like myself jaded by the promises Vista made, presented in a rather underwhelming way. Combine this with the increasing popularity and user-friendliness of Linux (Ubuntu, PCLinuxOS) and you have the perfect weather conditions for a migration storm. I don't want my operating system preaching to me, nor holding my hand over every thing I attempt to do. I've got on quite well with XP over the years...

To be honest, I want a new operating system more for a change than I do for new features, XP bores me now and I don't see Vista being different enough to justify a move in that direction. Linux has plenty of choice and when the crossover point occurs where I could comfortably do everything I need/want to in a Linux distro, then I shall move because Microsoft is doing everything wrong as far as the user is concerned.

Your thoughts
What do you think about this? If you didn't get a chance to vote in this poll don't worry, another one is up now. Feel free to express yourself in the comments.

 

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