Mac Keeps Lead on Linux
With the release of its first Linux laptop last week, Hewlett-Packard predicts this year the free operating system will unseat the Mac as the No. 2 desktop operating system behind Windows.
Source: WiredIndeed, some analysts say Linux displaced the Mac as the leading alternative in 2003. But the Mac hasn't been relegated to third just yet. While Linux machines are shipping in ever greater numbers, especially to giant markets like China, the vast majority are stripped of Linux in favor of pirate copies of Windows, experts say. Unveiled at LinuxWorld last week, HP's new Compaq nx5000 is a no-nonsense, $1,100 notebook aimed at the enterprise market, and small and medium businesses. Running Novell's Suse Linux 9.1 and Sun's OpenOffice suite, the "business notebook" also includes consumer-friendly features like a CD burner and DVD player, and wizards for things like setting up Wi-Fi. HP, which competes with Dell as the world's biggest PC maker, predicts the new machine will significantly boost Linux's desktop market share, allowing the free operating system to surpass the Mac later this year.
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