Ubuntu Linux PCs in 2012

20-million new Ubuntu Linux PCs in 2012?

In beneath than two weeks, the latest adaptation of Canonical’s Ubuntu Linux distribution, Ubuntu 12.04, Precise Pangolin, will be released. This new Ubuntu is attractive good. How good? In a contempo account with Julie Bort, Canonical and Ubuntu architect Mark Shuttleworth said, “We apprehend to address abutting to 20 actor PCs in the abutting year.” He wasn’t talking about 20-million new copies of Ubuntu actuality installed. That’s accessible to believe. True, desktop Linux has alone a atom of the absolute desktop market, but there are absolutely tens of millions of Linux users. Mind you, there are hundreds of millions of Mac OS X users and over a billion Windows users.

A aboriginal attending at Ubuntu 12.04 (Gallery)

Still, 20-million bodies affairs Ubuntu pre-installed on their computers in the abutting twelve months? That’s a lot! Indeed, in Canonical’s own contempo user survey, a bald 0.1% of Ubuntu users bought their Linux PCs with Ubuntu pre-installed from such vendors as Dell, System76, and ZaReason.

In allegory those numbers, Gerry Carr, Canonical’s administrator of communications, said “The low cardinal of [Ubuntu] pre-loads is absolutely a affair . [It's] absorption the continuing abridgement of availability in the market. We additionally apparently under-counted this as we asked about the adaptation users are currently active against how they originally acquired a version. Still the acceptable account from the sales aggregation in Canonical is that 2012 should see a turnaround in this availability affair at atomic in abounding markets so again, a amount that is account tracking over time.” In short, Canonical expects that there will be a lot added vendors affairs a lot added Ubuntu able PCs and laptops this year.

20-million or so added though? I asked Shuttleworth about it and he stands by his prediction. “That’s what we think, based on projections, acquaint you how it went in a year :) Globally, with all the big brands, appealing analogously distributed. We address with Asus, Dell, HP, Lenovo, and absolutely a few abate ones.”

Well, there you go. Alike globally I’ll be afraid if Ubuntu can move that abounding unit. Still, Ubuntu 12.04 is attractive abundant and I absolutely can’t see abounding Windows users switching from XP or Windows 7 to Windows 8 after this year. So, as was the case with Vista, desktop Linux in general, and Ubuntu in specific, may get a abrupt attempt at accepting added desktop users. Yes, conceivably alike 20-million added who are accommodating to buy PCs with Ubuntu accessible to go on them.