PCs running Linux are growing in popularity in part because they can be loaded with a pirated copy of Windows, according to a study from analyst Gartner.
The consulting firm issued a report on Wednesday stating that about 40 percent of Linux PCs will be modified to run an illegal copy of Windows, a bait-and-switch manoeuvre that lowers the cost of obtaining a Windows PC.
In emerging markets, where desktop Linux enjoys wider popularity, the trend is even starker. Around 80 percent of the time, Linux will be removed for a pirated copy of Windows. Pirated copies sell for around $1 in the streets of Shanghai and other cities in Asia and Eastern Europe, but can also be bought in stores selling brand name PCs.
As a result, the number of desktop Linux PCs that ship will exceed the actual percentage of Linux machines that get installed in the real world. Desktop Linux will account for about 5 percent of desktops shipped in 2004, according to Gartner, with 10.5 percent of the desktops in Asia shipping with Linux this year. However, the installed base of Linux will come to only 1.3 percent.
In 2008, Linux will account for 7.5 percent of PCs shipped, but only 2.6 percent of the installed base, about the same that Apple's installed base will be then.
A comparable lack of drivers, training costs and migration headaches will also slow desktop Linux growth.
"Linux on the desktop may be generating a lot of publicity, but there are very few large-scale dedicated Linux deployments," the firm stated. "Governments in several European countries have announced plans to migrate to Linux, but most of these projects are in the evaluation phase."
Price, of course, is a huge motivator in piracy. All of the components inside PCs have dropped in price in the past several years, except Windows. Windows accounted for around 5 percent to 6 percent of the cost of building a "professional"-level PC in 1996. Now, the operating system accounts for 12 percent to 15 percent of the cost.
Still, the growing acceptance of Linux has prompted Microsoft to hatch plans for releasing an inexpensive version of Windows, called Windows XP Starter Edition in Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Russia and India.
"It is likely that Microsoft would prefer the initial OS on a new PC to be a Windows variant rather than Linux, even if piracy were to continue," the report stated. "This would reduce the amount of interest that Linux is generating because of its increasing presence on new PCs."
Gartner is a tough audience these days. In August, Gartner wrote a report criticising Windows XP Starter Edition, claiming that it lacked some features and would "likely increase software piracy".
Talkback
A severely biased study from Gartner... Microsoft's strategy is to try to associate Linux with piracy again and again... What about those who are dumping OEM Windows boxes to run Linux? I have several machines with a Windows license sticker outside and Knoppix installed inside. This study seems to be based around old myths and realities about Linux.
Those who use Knoppix today know that Micorsoft will lose the war - this is a war for freedom and Linux is now beating Microsoft at the desktop also, because their business is not true software: it's licenses and dirty marketing against the penguin. We don't just want a better operating system: we want freedom to learn, privacy, and sharing legal intelectual property. That's why Microsoft will lose.
What about all those companyies that have to double pay microsoft for XP. They buy their VL edition of XP Pro but still have to buy a computer with a windows lic ense. Some of the less IT aware employees get very upset when you rollout thier new pc with xp pro and it comes with a xp home sticker on it cause the IT department didn't want to line Microsofts pockets anymore than they had too ( directors still like microsoft, stupid barstards! for a short term wages and training increase tehy could have long term licensing cuts )
Honest Informatin Technology,
that 'll be the day!
The tone of your article is somewhat misleading, and puts a curious spin on the facts. There is no such thing as a 'Linux PC'; Linux as I am sure you know will run on practically any kind of hardware.
The real issue is that it is cheaper to by a PC that doesn't have a proprietary operating system on it. Well, duh. The fact that people are then prepared to break the law and steal some proprietary software and install it onto some hardware they own is, frankly, nothing to do with the 'Linuxness' of the original PC, Linux as an operating system, or indeed PC hardware.
More correctly, you should say 'PCs preloaded with open source Linux software can subsequently be installed with Microsoft Windows. However, some people do this without paying a license fee to Microsoft.'
Hmm. Put like that, it sounds like a non-story....it smells like lazy journalism with a Microsoft agenda to me; perhaps it would be more appropriate to focus on the aspects of choice within the PC market, and the convoluted process one has to go through to get a refund if one doesn't want the copy of windows preloaded on many PCs.
Can't believe you printed this, let alone labelling it as a news story...