Is a Linux-based solution for the mass desktop personal computer market becoming reality last? Events this month would suggest that push has finally come to shove, as leading global brands-rather than just local assemblers-are slipping a Linux option into their offerings for more price sensitive markets such as India.The latest to join the trend is the Taiwan-based Acer who on Friday launched two Linux-based multimedia PC configurations aimed at the budget conscious Indian home buyer.

This comes on the heels of an India-only Linux desktop offering for the small and medium business sector, just 10 days ago from IBM.

The below-Rs. 30,000 Acer "Aspire" T 300 PC runs on a 1.8GHz Intel Pentium 4 chip, with 128 megabytes of Read Only Memory, 40 gigabytes of hard disk space, a floppy drive and a CD drive.It comes with a 15-inch colour monitor which can be upgraded to an LCD monitor at additional cost. Keeping in view the younger target customer, the PC comes with two good speakers and a sub-woofer that will work well with video CD-based movies and hi-fi music CDs.For Rs. 10,000 more, the same model can be beefed up to run on a faster (2.4 GHz) chip with the CD drive replaced by a read/write CD R/W drive.

This configuration is currently bundled with a free Epson printer that would otherwise cost around Rs. 3,000.During a special preview of the new machines arranged for The Hindu, Raghu. S., Acer India's Senior Product Manager (Consumer Products), explained that the machines are pre-loaded with the Redhat 8.0 version of Linux. As part of the bundle there is an office package which can be used for word processing and spread sheet work, and Linux utilities can be used to send and receive mails, chat and surf the Web.

Since Linux is a graphical user interface (GUI)-based software, it allows customers to use "Paint" tools to create and edit pictures.Like the rest of the Acer Aspire series, the T 300 models can also take an optional TV tuner card.The IBM Linux offering aims at a different market-government and education- with its NetVista A 30 machine launched on June 4.

The Pentium-4 based PC with CD drive, and 15-inch monitor is priced just under Rs. 40,000 and is just Rs. 2,000 cheaper than the equivalent Windows XP-based NetVista.IBM has been quoted by CNET as saying it has no plans at present to sell the Linux version outside India. HP's Compaq Presario home PCs too are available with a Linux operating system in India, although one has to read the fine print to learn this.

Indeed it would appear that international players such as HP and Acer are somewhat cagily introducing Linux-version in price-conscious markets like India and Thailand, to assess the feedback.The international catalogues of the same companies aimed at more developed markets do not offer Linux options. The Korean-based LG Electronics launched its own Linux based "MyPC" for India in the Rs. 34,000 to Rs. 36,000 price range, late last year.While Linux-based workstations and networked computer terminals are increasingly seen as replacements for Unix machines, the world's major consumer PC makers have shied away from Linux-based home offerings till now.

Linux vendor, SuSE, was sufficiently upbeat to launch a multiple licence version for the enterprise desktop market at a Linux Forum in Santa Clara, California on June 11.However results of an IDC market survey announced last week, suggest that as yet, Linux is acceptable to only 15 percent of global desktop PC users, most of whom still swear by Windows.But Indian home buyers appear to be ready to test the "open" waters of computing-not least because of the clear price advantage: in this week's Acer Aspire offering, the company will port Windows XP (Home edition) instead of Linux but only if the customer is ready to fork out an additional Rs. 4,280.Another consideration that will weigh with many buyers on a tight budget, is that a full office suite for Linux is available free, if one goes in for the downloadable "OpenOffice," which many Indian computer monthlies regularly put on their free CDs.

Courtesy:The Hindu