Linux Notebooks Selling Well On Amazon Germany 207
christian.einfeldt writes "The LinuxTech.net blog points out that Linux notebooks are currently selling quite well on Amazon's list in Germany. The blog includes screenshots showing the Linux Asus and Aspire notebooks in positions 2 and 4, respectively, on that list. These machines are not netbooks, but full notebooks, albeit on the moderate to low side regarding price and performance. That LinuxTech.net blog was dated 23 July 2009, and the Asus machine is still holding second place more than one day later, while the Acer machine slipped to fifth position, despite the volatile nature of Amazon bestseller lists. While these two data points are just snapshots in time, they are consistent with other data showing that Microsoft itself attributes some of its recent weak earnings to surging sales of low-end notebooks, as well as data showing that the Linux-powered and Unix-powered computers topped Amazon's sales charts in all categories for 2007. If there is to ever be a 'year of desktop (or laptop) Linux', it won't happen all at once, but will creep up in ways similar to what we are seeing now."
Linux notebooks? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:You have to know that .. (Score:1, Insightful)
You also have to know that quite a lot of FreeDOS-equipped notebooks are sold in Germany, because people around here just like to use DOS. Come on, the first thing people do with these Linux and DOS notebooks is install a copy of Windows (MSDN-AA, Windows 7 RC or plain illegal copies.)
Re:Even the Germans... (Score:1, Insightful)
You are using SARCASM and IRONY... Does not go over well in USA... Americans can be funny people but their lack of comprehension of irony is quite astounding....
Actually I was laughing at your comment... Thought it was funny. But then again I am German-Canadian...
What does that get you? A sarcastic person with no sense of humor!
Re:Even the Germans... (Score:5, Insightful)
I'm not sure how that qualifies as flamebait. It's a lot easier to fit Linux to low end hardware than Mac or Windows. Windows 7 runs on netbooks but it doesn't run that well. And if Linux gets wider acceptance in Europe, that would hardly be a surprise.
It's possible the mod moved the rating with the scroll wheel after selection. It's easy to do and not notice. If you're not paying attention you can start scrolling page but if the rating dropdown is still selected, you'll scroll the selection options. At least in FF, not sure if IE works the same way.
Re:cheap laptop (Score:1, Insightful)
Grow your own?
Re:cheap laptop (Score:1, Insightful)
The fact is, many people see software as something that comes with your PC, as they are used to buying OEM bundles. When they see a cheaper option, they will go for it, and let their IT friend take care of setting it up for them. The conversation goes:
buyer: "Put windows on it" ...
it guy: "but you don't have a copy"...
buyer: "can't I just use yours?"...
it guy: "ok, whatever".. proceeds to install it with a key/crack downloaded from the web.
Re:Experiment (Score:5, Insightful)
It's a bit unfair to compare a fresh Xubuntu install to a crapware infested aeons-old XP install...
XP runs like a champ (at least in terms of speed) if you keep it clean and the hardware manufacturers manage to write proper drivers...
Re:Experiment (Score:5, Insightful)
I installed kubuntu instead of the previous system (which you can easily guess). Made sure there were desktop links to firefox, kmail, dolphin and a SD card image transfer script.
...and there, I suspect, is the real secret to converting Windows users: first, recognize that your users don't care about KDE vs. Gnome holy war and give them the one that comes out of the gate looking more like Windows than a Mac. Second, a bit of intelligent customization to ensure that they can find the apps they use every day and disguise the fact that they now have different, wacky, names. Third, good after-"sales" support (I'm sure the staff at Buy More would have told them that Skype was windows-only :-) ).
Of course, that's better than you get when you buy Windows (or even Mac) but they have million-buck advertising campaigns and sales incentives instead so they don't need good service.
Re:Forced to be MS client (Score:3, Insightful)
Why not ask for a refund on the cost of Windows?
Re:You have to know that .. (Score:5, Insightful)
Whenever I hear about Linux in Germany, I think about the Munich migration. There's an ongoing debate as to whether or not it "is succeeding" or "will succeed".
Last time this came up on /. was a month ago [slashdot.org].
The migration project is called LiMux [wikipedia.org], and you'll find many places online that campaign against [blogspot.com] it (or strongly criticize it, sometimes it's hard to tell).
But overall I think it's very good news that consumers are making a conscious decision, with their own wallets.
Re:Even the Germans... (Score:5, Insightful)
In my experience, Linux outperforms Windows and Mac on the low end, the high end, and the middle end.
Free software is never a bad choice.
Re:Experiment (Score:4, Insightful)
Similar story here.
I had the opportunity to buy an height year old Toshiba laptop very cheap from the company I used to work for. My mom's computer had died a while ago, so I told her I'd give her this one, but it would be "slightly different". I installed Ubuntu 8.04 on it (gnome). After explaining to her that Word and Excel were now called "Open Office" I left her alone with it. I never had any complaints, but what's more, I never got any "my computer is slow" calls anymore neither. This was even so clear to her, that a few weeks ago her best friend called me to ask me if I could install "the windows your mom has" on her computer, after she had had another one of those "YOUR VIRUS IS INFECTED" popups appear
The thing is : for a standard (Internet browser / Email / IM / Fotos / Movies / Music / Wordprocessor / Spreadsheet) user, Linux is not only ready for the desktop, it should be mandatory
Re:Even the Germans... (Score:1, Insightful)
Honestly I've never had ACPI issues with linux since the early 2000's (nearly a decade ago now...). Pretty outdated complaint.