[citation][nom]heltoupee[/nom]I'm sorry, but I don't think anyone will ever "checkmate" Mac. Mac will continue to enjoy the (roughly) 10% market share they've always had. WINE will not be the lynchpin that will take them down, either. Ever seen Parallels? It's what WINE should be. I should preface all of this by saying that I've run Ubuntu as a primary OS for several years. Before that, I was a FreeBSD user since way before version 4 came out (I think I've still got install media for 3.4 laying around here somewhere). I had a windows laptop that got taken from windows 95 through 98SE, and then another with XP. Now, I have to dual-boot to Windows occasionally to load iTunes and update the software on my iPod Touch, so I've run the gamut.I am a HUGE fan of Linux, but here is the reason Linux will never make it on the desktop: third party driver support. Yes, I know, more and more companies are writing good Linux drivers. Both nVidia and AMD/ATI have the newest version of their drivers available for both Windows and Linux. That's not really the problem. ....
.... But, for a living, changing system over a period of time, it's really a pain in the butt sometimes.[/citation]
Ive read all that, believe me and ive passed it.
But the thing is....Joe consumer doesn't need updates, doesn't really knows what anti-aliasing is, never understood what the Translate look Aside Bus was, and believe Netburst is a Spiderman ability.
My mom is very happy with her Ubuntu. On her desktop and netbook.
My sister in law is very happy with her Ubuntu (in Galician, not spanish).
My brother Dual-boots. Vista 64 for games, Ubuntu 8.04 for work.
Just of the top of my head. And i'm sorry for your Itunes.
WINE just needs to get better on a productivity level. I don't really need to do my work on Windows. I only have windows for gaming. Nothing more. Linux is still a step away, mainly because of Directx. It will always be i guess.
About VMware, it is not very easy to "mod". Ive crashed several Kernels tempering with .... well, stuff. But in the latest analysis the problems, you broke your Kernel due to updating drivers and playing with VMware. I don't see any Joe Consumer doing that.
Try to install Catalist or Forceware with desinstalling first on Windows. then come back for the results.
Linux is still the "geek" choice for an OS. WINE idea is great, because it is not a VM, but a middle-layer. Check phoronix forums for WINE vs WINDOWS benchies for gaming.
The problem with WINE and linux in general, is that, a "geek" or a "tech savy" is making a GUI with apps associated, for people that just want to push a button. It is a hard task or a impossible one.
But will be fun to see.
At MU_Engineer, a windows box "can" be as stable as Linux. But it is very hard to see a windows box having the uptime that many linux boxes achieve without much sweat.