Comment 1085 for bug 1

Once again we have a problem communicating with the customer. We still
have all these old myths that are no longer true.

Bob! wrote:
> can i just say that windows has majority market share for a reason. imho
> ubuntu isnt nearly as good in a number of areas the concern the average
> user.

But the main reason is a lack of knowledge.

> for a start it isnt even possible to listen to mp3's or watch
> movies in default ubuntu.

Not true. It is not possible to download a CD with the codecs for free
because of licensing. But if you buy a system with Ubuntu on it, it
generally has the codecs pre-intalled. Also, the Windows codec
installer is a little more seamless in how it downloads codecs without
you knowing.

> windows is popular because well 1 as it is
> already popular people just goto it and its in computer stores as
> default etc but 2. because anything u can do on any other operating
> system u can do on windows... play games, what have you. afaik no other
> OS can really make that claim.

Not true. There are more than a few programs that only work on Linux,
or work with severly reduced functionality on Windows. Also, there are
MANY programs that will only work on one version of Windows, so there is
no version of anything that will "run it all."

> from my experiances with linux / windows
> i would personally say it works better " out of the box" aswell, which
> the average user (and me) like.

Which box? Are you comparing a pre-installed Windows box with a self
install of Ubuntu? That is comparing apples to jet aircraft. I have
delivered several Ubuntu systems, and the customers love them and want
more. While they are not for all purposes, they are amazing at some.

> i installed vista on my mothers computer
> and it didnt even need video drivers to run aero get hardware
> acceleration or play most simpler 3d games, the audio was nice and came
> with an equalizer etc by default.

Uh... No. It needed drivers. They were either already on the CD, or
downloaded on the fly. And the same thing happens with Ubuntu, with the
right hardware. And with the wrong hardware, both Ubuntu and Windows
will have issues.

> linux on the other hand has outdated,
> imo poorly supported device drivers, i had problems with jacksense and i
> couldnt even find a basic equalizer or what have you.

There was a good nVidia article on phoronix talking about how most of
the nVidia driver is shared code across all systems. The main library
is actually the same file. I can not answer the audio mixing questions
as I have never used it.

> imo linux will
> start earning more market share when it can compete on the same grounds
> as windows, and do more than what windows can do - preferably better.
> until then im afraid i have to keep using windows as my primary os,
> linux seems alright but it doesnt do everything i want it to - let alone
> easily.

This is the most telling part of your comment. Linux already can
compete on the same grounds as Windows, and can do things far better
than Windows. However, configuration is not trivial (Neither is
Windows, but the mostly come pre-configured) and perception is way
behind. Also, the staggering amount of choice is overwhelming.