Is ubuntu going to replace Windows XP/Vista?

I would like to include Fedora in the list.

A very good point. Many computer showrooms have been displaying and promoting Mac machines for a long time, but they have a small share of the market. To be fair to Linux, there is a much better spectrum of software available for Linux distributions, whereas Mac software is rather sparse in comparison.

I agree with you, even if Linux distributions are now mature, everyone can easily install Ubuntu or Mandriva, the lack of some device drivers is yet a problem. Also, some softwares donesn't have the Linux counterpart, so one is obliged to switch to Windows to use some these softwares.

Still,peoples now know,what is Linux.And that is good.May be,in the future,number of desktop users will increase.For me,I believe,that Windows will be out of market after sometimes,as Linux is providing more features than it. Thanks for your comments. -AV

What distro are you using? I want to try it. I've tried Ubuntu, Mandriva, Freespire, and SimplyMEPIS; as well as FreeBSD (I want to try OpenBSD, if only so I can say I have). Not one of them makes me think twice about emigrating from "Winbug," or "Windoze," or whatever else you want to call it. Linux simply doesn't do enough, and neither does BSD. Remember that Linux has been around about as long as Windows. And as far back as I can remember, the memes haven't changed at all. "Linux is better than Windows," "Linux is more secure than Windows," "Linux is more stable than Windows," "the open source communities are more responsive than Micro$oft..." Your ancestors have been screaming this at the tops of their lungs since time immemorial. And Windows continues to dominate the market. What are they waiting for?

I agree that the Unix os is more stable. But keep in mine the Unix os was not designed for normal user but for programers and those type of people. When Unix system we on a pc, you could do just about anything to program with it. But you need to know enough of it language to be able to do anything on it. When you had a Unix type system you never had to worry about it going down.

I beg to differ. I don't know about Mac, but every Linux distro I've used (Ubuntu, Xubuntu, Linux Mint, Mandriva, OpenSuSE; PCLinuxOS, Freespire, and SimplyMEPIS don't work on my machine) has a problem with USB. The mouse pointer will suddenly freeze, and any portable programs running from a flashdrive will crash. The drive running the programs will be inaccessible until the program is terminated, and it won't terminate on its own. If that's not bad enough, "Seagate snubs Linux": http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2007/12/06/seagate-snubs-linux Don't get me wrong; I like Linux. I wouldn't have wasted my time trying out eight different distros, and getting nice and comfy with three of them (Ubuntu, Mint, and Mandriva)until they decided to start crashing. But any way you slice it, Linux doesn't have the kind of engineers Microsoft has. They've had sixteen years to get it together, and in many cases, all they can tell you is "I don't know." Clement Lefebvre, head developer of Mint, has seen my problem himself, and doesn't know how to fix it. Linux is way ahead of Windows in other areas, such as the absence of a need for defragmenting, cleaning a registry, or restarting after installing updates. It's almost as inherently secure as Windows Vista, and ultimately safer because of obscurity. Of course that can change, though. People have been attacking Linux for a few years, and the first ItW Mac worm came out in February last year. The reason I'm stuck with Windows for now is because half my programs are portable and I use a USB mouse. But since I know how to defend Windows against malware WITHOUT antivirus or antispyware ( http://invincible-windows.blogspot.com ), it runs light and never crashes. And since I use Firefox with privacy enabled, and keep temp folders clean, and clean up after installing/uninstalling a program, AND don't use antivirus or antispyware; Windows can keep on running without getting all sluggish, just like Linux. I've been told in the past I just need to take the time to learn something that isn't Windows. I turn around and tell the fanboys just what I can do with Linux, and that I'm still not impressed. I tell them that Windows can do all the same stuff WITHOUT crashing. I tell them they need to take the time to learn Windows.