Windows is the worlds most popular operating system
Linux is the world’s most popular free operating system
The creators of Linux do not see the word free as in freebie but free as in freedom.Linux is built on the principle that if its your computer, you can do goddamn whatever you wish to do with it. Linux started out as an alternative to UNIX(the dominant OS at that time) and initially found usage among computer savvy crowd. But Linux today is far from the geeky and difficult to fathom thing that you may imagine.

Linux Today

Today,Linux distributions look good and work great.They come with well designed interfaces that get the learning curve out of the way and even people who’ve used Windows all their life rarely have  much of a problem(Though software interfaces on Windows are still years ahead). Some Linux distributions are built  specifically with the purpose of working out of the box (Think LinuxMint) unlike Windows which requires you to install a hundred things before you safely start working. There’s way too much wicked shit to do to your PC in Linux Some people have a difficulty coping with software installation process on Linux (Seriously,nothing beats exe’s and press ‘OK to Continue’ ) but I’ve settled on Ubuntu after switching quite a few distributions and find that efforts like the ‘Ubuntu Software Center’ are a big step in the right direction.

Whats the problem?

Linux works faster,hangs less and has to deal with less viruses than Windows. So then why would anyone ever use Windows? Because  Windows just shows up on your computer uninvited and people just don’t bother switching an OS. Looking Ahead
But today there is an opportunity for Linux to change this scenario.
Slowly but surely computing is moving over to the cloud and more and more of our time is spent on network based applications.We can watch movies online,listen to songs online,draw pictures online and do many more things that were once restricted to the desktop.
The latest version of HTML(the internet’s underlying language), HTML5 gives developers fascinating new opportunities to move traditional desktop based applications into a browser-based environment. Google (through Google Docs) has tried to implement a complete office suite within a browser and has done a fantastic job of it.
As more and more applications become browser/network-based, the role of the Operating System for most users will become secondary. Google tried a radical approach to this when it launched its Chrome WebOS.(I call it radical because you to be log in with your Google Account to use the OS).
But this demonstrates that there many people who believe the OS as we see it today is in for a change.And what better replacement than the OS that was and is being built by people sharing code over the Internet. Also happening
Another trend that we may observe is the divergence of the computer market (triggered especially by the rise of netbooks and tablets).
Want a device to just read books along with some music, then tablets it is.
If your computer activity is restricted to simply browsing the web,coupled with some movie watching and office work, then go for a netbook.
If you’re into gaming, then you’d choose a laptop with a decent graphic card
…and so on.
Each of these market segments requires a different kind of OS and at least the first two are goldmines for Linux. All that is needed is a consolidated effort to convince device manufacturers into switching and then there’ll be no looking back. Think this kind of an effort is too extreme, you couldn’t be more wrong . Have you heard of Android !?

Device manufacturers had no shame in switching as long they were assured that the OS that were switching to was well supported and that there was loads of software to go around.And there was the added bonus of getting a completely-built modern OS for FREE.
Linux is already well-supported
Linux already has loads of software to go around.
In case you forgot, Linux is FREE.

Bottomline

So,summarizing I would like to say that the rise of internet-based applications and the amazing community support and software base that Linux enjoys havent made a more compelling argument for OEM’s to switch to Linux as their default OS and Linux evangelists need to grab this opportunity. ====x===x===== An Ad by Google Me Nearly 100% of the world’s supercomputers use Linux. All the really smart computers are using Linux they say . Why should your computer stay behind?