| Linux has a bunch of great applications. The problem (and strength) is the lack of uniformity. You have several office suites -- koffice, star office and a few others. You have GIMP which is not far off photoshop in it's abilities. You have several good databases for desktop PCs (the DBM systems aren't quite as slick looking as Access, but they are generally considerably more powerful, stable and efficient). Gaming is a lot more limited than a PC (although apparently there are some great titles out there).
The two biggest gaps are a server integrated mail/calander system and ERP/CRM systems. These exist, but I've not seen anything to match Lotus Notes or Oracle/SAP. There are rumours of a quite nice system being developed. If it comes through, it will be quite revolutionary.
The problem is using them is not identical to using windows applications. It's similar and, in many cases, once you get used to them, the Linux toys are far better. But familiarity is a very, very powerful marketing tool (I would go so far as to argue that it is the most powerful -- particularly dealing with complex products). |