Canonical: give Windows 10 the shove and embrace Ubuntu

I use two desktop operating systems regularly -- Windows 10 and Ubuntu. The former is on my main PC, while the latter came pre-installed on a laptop. I’ve always liked Ubuntu, but never enough to make it my primary OS. Because I spend my days writing about Windows it’s kind of a no brainer that I should immerse myself in Microsoft’s operating system.

However, Canonical, the company behind Ubuntu, would like people to question their choice of OS, now that Windows 10 is here.

A new blog post on the company’s website puts forward the reasons why businesses in particular should think about switching, and asks whether public and private enterprises have stuck with Windows out of habit, rather than because it’s the best choice for them.

The 'comfortable' next move would be to simply upgrade; however, the heavy resource constraints on devices and meatier royalty fees have turned off even the most fervent Windows followers. Top media across the globe are analyzing ways to snub Windows 10 (see Le Monde August 4, 2015 article '5 operating systems to snub Windows 10') and, in my opinion, for mainstream users who care about their privacy, this is probably the best possible time to take a closer look at other choices.

Obviously Canonical would say that, but Windows 10 has come in for some heavy criticism regarding privacy with its new OS and this will have some businesses feeling less than comfortable with the prospect of deploying it. But are those concerns going to be enough to put firms off and get them to consider alternative options?

It seems highly unlikely. Canonical suggests the savings gained by choosing Ubuntu over Windows 10 could be "better put towards more altruistic or even epicurean objectives, whilst still allowing you to benefit from a tremendous OS", but that fails to take into account the difficultly firms will have in teaching Ubuntu to a workforce used to Windows. There is a steep learning curve, and companies -- and individuals for that matter -- tend to stick with Windows not just out of habit, but because it’s the easiest choice.

You can’t blame Canonical for using Windows 10’s arrival as a chance to push Ubuntu as an "ultra secure, robust, high performance" alternative, but it seems as if its endeavors are falling on deaf ears.

Stephen Kleynhans, research VP with Gartner, says they’re seeing large numbers of Volume Licensing customers looking to switch to Windows 10 by early next year. "They're interested in going ahead with Windows 10 in much bigger numbers than we saw with Windows 7 six years ago, which has been a bit of a surprise for us," he says.

Good news for Microsoft, but not for Canonical.

Image Credit: Ana-Maria Tanasescu / Shutterstock