ComputerWorld reports that operating system usage on the net has shifted, primarily away from Windows XP and in favor of Windows Vista and Mac OS-X. The story also notes that Linux’s share in net usage has increased significantly, at least in percentage terms from its (very low) initial usage rate.

This made me curious about whether there is any evidence that Linux usage has increased as a result of Dell’s decision, at the end of May this year, to begin offering machines with Ubuntu operating systems. Not only did this put some new Dell Linux machines into the public’s hands, but Dell’s implied endorsement of Linux also directed public attention to Linux and probably gave Linux some additional legitimacy in the eyes of the broader public. Thus, directly and indirectly, Dell’s action might have boosted Linux’s usage share.

To check this hypothesis, I went to the Net Applications site that provides data on operating systems being used on the net. I checked Linux’s market share in November 2006, May 2007 (when Dell began offering Ubuntu), and November 2007. During this entire one year time span, the Linux share rose from 37/100 percent to 57/100 percent, or 20/100 of a percent. The increase during the first six months to May 2007 was 6/100 percent, while the increase in the second six months was 14/100 percent. So the market penetration of Linux appears to have accelerated after Dell began shipping Ubuntu machines, and Dell’s action may have been at least partly responsible for the acceleration.

While Linux’s share is still mighty small, that share has increased by 50 percent in the last year. If it continues to increase by 50 percent annually, it will have the whole market in (…hmmm…) a little less than 13 years.

As we near the end of the year, The DistRogue has already posted their summary of the major news this year for each of the major distros, but the post does not cover the big overall Linux news stories. So I thought I would cover a few of the big things that have happened for Linux as a whole.

Perhaps the most interesting things to happen this year has been the amazing number of low-cost, and very successful, Linux PCs. I already wrote a lot about it here, but basically it seems like the trend is for consumers to want PCs where for some reason fancy hardware is not possible, making Linux the only good choice due to Vista’s high requirements.

Another related story, although much older, is Dell beginning to sell computers with Ubuntu. In addition, Dell has continued to show support for open-source software by beginning to sell Ubuntu and other Linux OSs in other countries.

Although this is not strictly Linux news, and for that reason I have not covered it here before, Vista, which was released earlier this year, received mediocre reviews, and caused many people to consider alternative OSs to Vista.

I am sure I missed some important news stories, so post whatever you think the most important stories have been in the comments.

Trouble has been breaking out at the north pole ever since Mr. S. Clause was alerted that KDE 4 will not be released in time for Christmas. Although no official statement has been made, the speculation is that there may not be enough time to order replacement toys for all those geeks.

In a further worrisome development, the coal industry announced a price increase in response to unusual demand from a north pole buyer whom they declined to indentify.

Despite these grim circumstances, there is still hope. Mr. S. Clause plans to give all of his elves one-week courses in computer skill and programming. He hopes that if all his elves assist the KDE team, they can still pull off the release of KDE 4 before Christmas and save the day!

The Real News
The KDE team has decided to delay the release of the much anticipated KDE 4.0 until January 11th, according to KDE Dot News. This is not the first time KDE 4 has been delayed and it seems like the KDE team is, understandably, having trouble meeting the level of the excitement surrounding KDE 4. Still, I believe that the KDE team made the right call. Would you rather have a half-baked version a month earlier or a really incredible desktop a month later, or even a year later?