There is no doubt that people are leaving Windows, many going to the Mac and some are turning to Linux. This is partly due in part to dissatisfaction with Vista. The reason isn’t important. What is happening to the Linux community is.

I am active on several help forums. I see lots of requests for help. Many of them come from befuddled Windows users. Their numbers and the way they approach Linux are having an impact. Nobody has done a precise count, but we know that Linux adoption is growing. Since most new users have a Windows background, then they bring with them Windows habits and experience. This does not always translate well in moving from one Windows platform to another, say, from XP to Vista. Moving from XP to Linux is a shock for many of them.

Fortunately, the Linux community is accepting and accommodating. Many of us, were once in their shoes. However, not all of us were. This is a source of some problems, such as when a Unix guru tells the Windows newbie to open a terminal and edit gconf from the commandline using nano. It is an interesting exchange between the two for sure. Both frequently end up frustrated for some strange reason. Such things are to be expected when two different worlds collide.

But we see that Windows users are having an impact on the Linux community that we may not have anticipated. Windows users aren’t used to choice. For them the array of choices that Linux presents is confusing.

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