So they only have to worry about the tendency of too many websites to cater for IE (poor practise and not linux's fault). Admittedly Firefox runs as well in Linux as in Windows, and most linux mail apps are excellent.
Consider that firefox is the most used browser by linux users I really don't see what point you are trying to make here.
This bit gets my goat every time - you cannot play Mp3s on install with ANY version of linux as by default you do not get the codecs as they are not open source and there are licensing issues. This is by no means as bad or as stupid as the DRM loaded proprietary codecs of Apple or MS - but there needs to be an understanding here, the average desktop user likes MP3, not Ogg Vorbis.
Huh? The codecs in Linux are nearly all open sourced. It's just that no Linux distributer can include them as binaries due to patent issues.
As of Ubuntu 8.10 it's as simple as pasting the following line "sudo apt-get install ubuntu-restricted-extras" into the terminal to get any codec you'll need or equivalently 3 clicks in the gui package manager. Even in Windows you have to install a DVD player for dvd playback and special codec packs for MPEG-4 playbacks.
However most of them do install software. Most popular software many average users install (like ITunes) will not work on Linux - end of story, and there is little commercial incentive to write a port for it, as the distros vary so wildly.
iTunes is only irreplaceable in the sense that it's the only software that works with the iTunes store. However there are millions of users who don't use the iTunes store. They can certainly pick another player like amaroK which will work just as well if not better.
The average user might like to use their PC as a media center too, impossible under linux (the SP-DIF pass-throughs just don't work, HDMI? Forget it...)
If a person is running a HTPC then he or she is certainly not the average user.
Also I am not sure where did you get your info but it's definitely possible to build a High Definition media center using Linux. I could turn one of my linux machines into one right now without much tweaking. Sure I do need a new sound card for S/PDIF output to the video card and a Blu-ray burner for Blu-ray playback but at the moment I could output video through HDMI. It's not a OS restriction at all.
In certain areas like video/picture editing Linux is only lacking because the leading solution provider won't port their softwares over.
No commercial incentive, as of yet anyway.
But in other areas such as engineering when the leading solution providers does provide a *nix version there is a tendency to use *nix rather than windows.
Linux has much potential in specialized roles, totally agreed. It can be used very successfully in many areas where Unix was once universal, but is not a plausible alternative to Windows for most desktop PCs. [/quote]
I don't really see how is it only for specialized role. Engineering isn't any more specialized than professional video/photo editing. Lets see what I have done on my Linux boxes and a linux laptop for last 5 years. I have browsed websites, sent about 4k emails, accumulated tens of thousands of lines of IM/IRC chats. I have listened to about few thousand songs and watched few thousand videos. I also did nearly all of my school work on those computers as well as hundreds of picture editing. I've also used one of the linux box as an media center (audio only). Of course I had a SVN server and an apache server running at one point.
Yes Linux is ready as desktop option for a lot more people than its current market share would indicate.
