Posted on Wednesday 2nd of August 2006 at 04:57 in Linux

Why Linux needs to bite the bullet and become Windows

Now, bare with me on this, I'm not saying Linux should just be a Windows clone but the key to it's major success would be to appeal to the mainstream market. While this point is obvious enough, there are several good reasons why I feel there is much to be gained from offering a system more comparable to the MS alternative.

While i'm aware the previous sentence has caused the closing of many browsers I do still have a valid point. Whatever the replacement is, whether it is a phone, PDA, or an upgraded piece of software, the highest probability of getting users onto the new item is to offer a sense of migration. Whether this allows your settings to be transfered or your contacts kept, it removes the majority of the inconvenience - which is normally the stumbling block. If users were able to move between MS and Linux and keep their files (and settings where applicable) then I feel it would be a vast improvement.

True, this notion will go against the principle of Linux, but it is clear that they need to win over some MS customers (because who wants those who believe in the Mac, ay?) and the best way of doing so is to offer a sense of migration between the two.

But what about corporate image? An ironic term for open source free software but surely to progress in the world Linux must need more users? The latest distros are certainly looking polished and more attractive than OSX (at least in this author's opinion). Linux needs more of a corporate image upgrade than anything else "It's not just for servers!".

If moving in this direction, getting the right mixture/combination would prove the most difficult aspect to tame. How does one balance Microsoft migration with Linux-typical innovation? Obviously, not an answer I need to find but one that would be required if (for some unknown reason) my ideas were worth something.

Linux needs to stop worrying about "not being Windows" and be proactive, and if they seriously want to steal a chunk of the MS userbase, there needs to be more similarities than differences in all the right places, whilst remaining different enough to please the hardcore fans.

A good idea or unreachable operating system utopia? Probably the latter but I think some points are valid, that for Linux to make substancial gains, they may have to offer more similarities to MS than perhaps the 'average' user would wish for - all in the name of expanding that lil penguin who causes so much controversy.

 

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