In just a few short days our choices in desktop operating systems seem to have tripled. Not only has Dell agreed to distribute Linux on certain desktop models, but it's also given XP a new lease on life. Responding to user requests on its Ideastorm site, Dell has agreed to offer consumers the option to get XP and not Vista on select Dimension desktops and Inspiron notebooks -- at least until Microsoft sends In just a few short days our choices in desktop operating systems seem to have tripled. Not only has Dell agreed to distribute Linux on certain desktop models, but it’s also given XP a new lease on life. Responding to user requests on its Ideastorm site, Dell has agreed to offer consumers the option to get XP and not Vista on select Dimension desktops and Inspiron notebooks — at least until Microsoft sends XP off to the OS boneyard in January 2008. Even Michael Dell is running Ubuntu Feisty Fawn on one of his home notebooks. (I’m not so sure about that name, though — “Feisty Fawn” sounds a bit too much like Bambi on Viagra.) And, of course, Apple might lure a few more Windows converts when Leopard show its spots next fall. Meanwhile, as Bill Gates and Nick Negroponte race to put Windows or Linux machines into the hands of the world’s underprivileged children, faithful Cringesters weigh in on both sides of the debate. T.C. opines: …How many years (decades) did industry beg for a standard/unifying operating system? We thought it would be Unix — but. Some think it may be Linux (really Unix again). In the meantime, Gates steamrolls Windows into the market and we finally have the unified base. Not nearly perfect, but 90% of the world runs it. Now it’s time to bash Microsoft over and over because they won? I have never been a big fan of Windows, but we will soon have had three generations of people using it. Which box would you give your kid to learn on if all were even? The hand cranked free PC running who knows what — or Windows/Office? Tell you what. You give yours the freebie, mine gets Windows, and we see who gets a job first Note to T.C. I don’t bash Windows because it won. I bash Windows because it sucks. True, each new version sucks a teensy bit less — even Vista is a small improvement over XP, compatibility issues aside — but at this rate we’re still looking at 30 more years of suck before Microsoft finally gets it right. I also think the days where mastery of Windows gets you a job are long gone — assuming they ever existed. (One of the few things Windows has done well is flatten the application learning curve.) Moving from a cheap Linux box to Windows isn’t like moving from a Model T to an F16. The basic skills transfer easily. On the other hand, if Linux gains a foothold in the world market such a transfer might not be necessary. J.H., a member of Linux International, sees a shining city on the hill, lit by the glow of open source software. As he eloquently puts it: ….one can hope that the people making the decisions in these countries will understand that it is not the cost of the school software that is the issue, it is really the choice they are creating now between software freedom and software slavery. I see Linus Torvalds as Moses, holding Linux Tablet PCs in either hand, leading us into the promised land. I’ve got a shrinkwrap copy of Ubuntu and a bottle of Scotch sitting on my desk, and it’s a toss-up as to which I’ll crack open first. Help me decide by dropping me a line or posting your comments below. Software DevelopmentSmall and Medium Business