I predicted Microsoft Vista would spur improvements in the Linux desktop world, and that’s coming true. I wish the Linux people got their act together a bit sooner, but better late than never. Maybe they learned that slogan from Microsoft, as well. The best news I’ve heard for new Linux desktop users is that Linspire will be allowing access to their nice CNR (Click-n-Run) application warehouse for free. Not only that, they’re working with major Linux operating system providers to make CNR a one-click installation resource for many Linux OSs, not just Linspire. Windows wins the easy application installation race against Linux almost every time, but that may change with this new, and welcomed, coordination and collaboration among Linux vendors. If you download a Windows application from somewhere like PC World, it installs into Windows easily. Now the same will be true for major Linux distributions as well.
Speaking of major Linux Distributions, Xandros now has their Business Desktop – Professional out for download and a box version. I’ll be playing with that soon. Finally, a couple of the alphabet soup Linux organizations are getting together instead of continuing to argue. Microsoft is focused like a laser sight on a cannon, and the Linux world too often resembles a gnat swarm. More focus will help, so let’s hope this is the first of many collaboration steps.
