Just over a year ago I got a dell mini 9 with linux for my dad. There was no way he was going to use linux. It just confused him and nothing worked without firs

Just over a year ago I got a dell mini 9 with linux for my dad. There was no way he was going to use linux. It just confused him and nothing worked without first taking some action or involved explanation. It was all just too much for him. I installed OSX 10.5 [1]. I told him the only rule is no Apple Software Updates (until I had a chance to patch it). It was my nth attempt to get him to leave Windows and it finally worked. After some massaging by me - Everything just worked. Maybe not the same way - but it worked. And it was more productive than using his old borked windows install. When linux can provide a similar experience they will gain (more) traction. I don't agree with Dell dropping Linux but I understand it. I can just imagine all the confused users calling in because they can't install some windows game or windows program. There was another reason the Mac didn't happen sooner. Price. There was no way he was going to shell out for a mac. He had the money. He just couldn't justify spending 3x to get a Mac. We'll see if price is still an obstacle now that he's a daily Mac user. And this is another (obvious) strong point for Ubuntu. In my opinion they've done a good job leveraging "being free" in the netbook market where 25% of the cost can be the OS (/cough Windows). [1] http://www.mydellmini.com/forum/mac-os-x/ http://www.mydellmini.com/forum/mac-os-x/