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Podz, a Wordpress Support Maven and frequent flyer in #wordpress has posted his reasoning behind going back to Windows XP after a short affair with Ubuntu. I have to say that I agree wholeheartedly with his experience. Linux simpy isn't ready for desktop usage, at least for people who want to use their OS and not fiddle around with their OS.

I love Linux, don't get me wrong. My own webserver runs Linux (of the Debian flavor), but my desktop remains XP. Why? Well, simply put; I like it. It's as easy as that, and it's not due to lack of experience with Linux either. I find using Linux on a desktop cumbersome, even obtrusive in ways and it "just doesn't feel right".

I also happen to manage roughly 25 servers, and about 110 clients on a daily basis, spread over 2 continents and 5 countries (Thats not counting our ships). If it wasn't for using Windows 2003 Servers, Active Directory, Citrix and Windows XP clients that would pretty much be an unsurmountable task. I want to enable my users to do their job, not battle with their computers. Of course, Microsoft being a market leader helps in a way, since everyone knows how use a computer with Windows on it. Thats just the way it is. I'm not saying that this is necessarily a good thing, but it does help me in my day to day job.

If I were to give my users a Linux box, I seriously doubt that it would increase their efficiency at all. As far as I'm concerned, running Linux on the desktop is still something reserved for those with a special interest in it, it's not for people who actually want to spend time using their computers for their day-to-day tasks.

So far, the best usage for Linux on the desktop (for Joe Average) I've seen is this and The VMWare Player based Browser Appliance.

BTW

: I think VMWare has struck gold with the newly released VMWare Player. It really opens up an alley of virtualization for everyone that I'm sure will find loads of good uses in the time to come.