Ubuntu man throws toys out of the
pram
Microsoft has been patting itself on the back claiming that its
Windows operating system runs on more than 95 per cent of the netbook world.It
appears that Microsoft was not being quite accurate. The claims were based on
an NPD's sales survey. NPD focuses on retail sales in the US, not overall
sales.
Chris Kenyon of Canonical, the business that stands behind Ubuntu
pointed out that you don't tend to see Linux systems in the retail
market. However when customers are offered choice on equally well-engineered
computers around a third will select Ubuntu over XP."
Other analysts have
questioned whether the NPD figures actually mean anything sensible. The United
States only has about 20 percent of the netbook market, not to mention that the global
market is still 30 percent Linux.
Microsoft implied that the reason it was
on such a high figure was because it supported more devices than Linux. However,
as Kenyon points out, Linux already has lots of device support thank you very
much. "Ubuntu and most Linux distributions support over 3000 printers over 1000
digital cameras, and over 200 webcams. It also supports them without the need
to search for drivers on dubious websites or load drivers from a CD. Just plug
and play."
Microsoft added that Canonical itself has said that its Linux
netbooks are returned at a rate more than four times as high as Windows
netbooks. Kenyon said that Canonical never said anything like that and it is a
complete lie.