January 9, 2009 4:11 PM PST

The Real Deal 143: CES Trends

by Tom Merritt
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What are the big trends at CES and what's the possibility that we'll actually see them affect our lives.
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Netbooks and death of Linux on consumer PCs (And the never trend of the UMPC) Smartphone competition GPS gets smart Internet video to the living room Yahoo Widgets 3D (Gaming, TVs, up and comer feature) Thin TVs Green Tech Wireless power realdeal@cnet.com forums.cnet.com 877-600-CNET
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by avro105 January 11, 2009 2:35 AM PST
So after attacking Macs this week for mythical shortcomings, our dynamic Duo has declared Linux dead. Not so. The Guardian in England reported before Christmas that netbooks were being made with a Windows XP/Linux ratio of 60/40. Given that most Windows users are Luddites and don't even like a new version of Windows this is remarkable. 40% for Linux is truly impressive. Coupled with them coming with free software, running better and being more secure makes Linux the sensible choice for this market.

Guys, CNET already has its resident Microsoft cheer leader in the form of Molly Wood and one is enough (some would say one too many!) and the thought of the two of you in cheer leading uniforms is not a mental picture I relish!

This should be The Real Deal, not Microsoft Partners.
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by whiplash55 January 17, 2009 12:01 PM PST
Given that most Windows users are Luddites
Grow up, I use Windows, Mac's, and Linux have for years, and the reality for many people is that Windows works best for their needs. They don't care about fads or fanboys or what geeks consider cool they just want to get stuff done. So given most normal (non-geek) people use computers as a tool that neither makes them Luddites or idiots they just want to use what they're used to and that's usually Windows, get over it.
Considering that Linux is based on Unix which has been around since the late 60's, I suppose you could call Linux users Luddites if you wanted to go down that road.
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