An article at Desktoplinux.com (http://www.desktoplinux.com/news/NS3542601509.html), "Why people really don't switch to Linux", got me thinking about the subject, and here is my response:
I dabbled with Linux around 1999, and it just was not ready then to be a mass market product. At the present time, it is getting much closer. I do now use linux as my main OS, replacing Windows XP which had basically gone wrong too many times so I gave up using it on this PC.
I think that most people are not as adventurous as myself and other linux users, so they stick with what they know, purely out of laziness or just wanting familiarity. I know that when changing to Linux, it was nice for me to use Xandros due to its user friendliness for ex-Windows users (such as a File manager that resembles Windows Explorer, which is much easier to use than using the normal Konqueror as a file manager), and CrossOver which allows me to run some Windows programs like Dreamweaver and Photoshop.
I had already been using Firefox, Thunderbird and OpenOffice in Windows, so it was easy to carry on using these programs. But most people still think that the sun shines out of Bill Gates's backside and would rather hand over their money to Microsoft or else use pirated versions of MS software, simply because they perceive that to be the only choice, or at least the default choice for most computer users. Most users want compatibility with other users, hence even OpenOffice has to offer an option to save in MS formats.
A lot of negative reaction to Vista since its launch may well help to steer people away from the MS world, to a small extent, but when people go to buy a new PC, especially if it is their first PC, they will no doubt have a choice of any OS they want so long as it is called Vista. Most vendors just do not sell PCs with Linux, thus most users will buy a PC with a free OS already installed (i.e. they did not have to pay extra to get Vista so they will regard it as free software that came with the PC).
It is kind of like buying a Freeview box, DVD recorder, VCR or hifi — for most people they just want to get it home, plug it in and switch it on, and hope that it works okay. No one would seriously consider replacing the OS on a Freeview box (unless they were really seriously into hacking Freeview boxes), thus most people would not even realise that they could install a different OS on a PC, they just regard it as being an integral part of the PC the same as the hardware that comes with it. Most PC users are not tech-savvy and would most likely not even realise that they could add extra hardware to the PC or change bits, they just buy what they want and if it does not work they would demand a refund or repair.
Mass consumerism is predominant now in the PC world, so most consumers just will not care which OS they use. It would be great if they could all see the benefits of Linux, but no one is teaching them that, or they just do not have time to listen, they just want a PC that allows them to surf the Internet and send email, and maybe write a letter and print it out, or store photos on the hard disk.
