This is good news! The more users of the OS...the more support Ubuntu can get from the hardware manufactures. This will also help tip the mainstream software developers to creating true Linux versions of their software..

Great post, however I suspect your numbers are low. You note it was not a scientific survey. That is strange you didn't use a real survey. There are many great advances in the desktop Linux environment and if you note LinuxWorld where Ubuntu, Novell, Projity and others made big announcements there is significantly more traction. Projity just announced over 40,000 downloads of OpenProj in the two weeks since the show and Novell announced international distribution on Dell machines. The Dell deal with Ubuntu has taken off with Dell adding more lines as the originals were selling better than expected. Hmmmm, that sounds like more momentum than reflected in your non-scientific survey.

I'm glad to hear this, because I've gotten so frustrated with Windows that I've decided no longer to buy Windows machines. Bizarre, since I've owned DOS and Windows machines since they first came out.

At work we have very few Windows machines left, most are dual-boot Linux and WinXP or Win2K.

I too am very encouraged to hear about this. I switched to Linux on my computer in early 2005 and haven't looked back since. I've tried several distros, and right now, I have PCLinuxOS 2007, which I honestly think is a better distro for Linux newbies than Ubuntu, and that's not just because I prefer KDE over GNOME, either.

The reason I say this is because Ubuntu doesn't include codecs to play Flash animations, MP3 files, etc., by default, while PCLinuxOS does. I could be wrong here, but I think the average person will notice this and think that it's a problem with Linux and go back to Windows, not realizing that they can go into Synaptic and download and install such codecs very easily and have their MP3, Flash movies, etc., on Linux.

However, of course, PCLinuxOS doesn't have the marketing muscle that Ubuntu has via Canonical, and IMHO, I think Ubuntu's marketing muscle has a lot to do with its popularity. Don't get me wrong, though -- I'd pick Ubuntu over Windows any day, and I love how Ubuntu has helped raise the awareness of Linux as a viable alternative to Windows, and I especially love how Dell has tried it on some of their PCs and is now offering it on more of their computers. To me, that's a definite sign that our ranks are GROWING! :-)

Unfortunately I wasn't in on the survey, because I didn't hear about it in time to vote, but I'll definitely keep an eye on it for next year.

I've personally tried making the switch more than once. The only distro that ever worked on my network was Mandrava but I could have purchased my way out of that problem. My biggest issue with Linux involves software installation.

Its just too damned hard and Linux is going no where until this issue gets dealt with. Average users will *not* compile from source. Not in a million years. RPMs need to work accross different distros and versions.

"You should not have to be an auto mechanic in
order to use a car".

Actually, Linux gains will be very slow until it's standard on the hardware; (Dell is nice, but just a beginning). Windows monopoly is the result of OEM's being locked into agreements to Pre-Install the WinOS, plain & simple. People (in general) will NOT compile an OS, and they will NOT install an OS.
Period.
Just ask IBM about trying to sell a boxed OS after-the-fact and getting people to pay for it AND install it (OS2 = R.I.P.). Not gonna happen.
I love PCLINUXOS but I'm a geek.

Great article. The survey is a bit crude, though. I suspect it only tracks the trend in desk-top use and that the absolute numbers do not mean anything useful.

On 2nd thoughts, my last comment came across as a bit negative. It's a great article and although the survey is crude, Ilook forward to seeing it again next year to see whether the trend continues.