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Inside Linux: Page 10 of 17

Other application support is missing entirely. The tools Linux desktop users crave most often are replacements for Visio and financial software, such as Quicken or Microsoft Money. Although there are Linux applications that claim to provide this functionality, they lag far behind their Windows counterparts and prevent some users from even considering Linux on the desktop.

The most common place you'll find Linux on the desktop is in the call center, where most applications are browser-based and productivity software needs are minimal. E-mail clients that can act as clients for Microsoft Exchange and enterprise-class messaging servers are already available from Ximian (Novell), and the Gecko-based Mozilla/Phoenix and Netscape are fully compliant with W3C standards.

Conversion of the Faithful



Fifty-two percent of Linux developers used to develop primarily for Windows, according to Evans Data Corp.

Emulators such as CrossOver Office and Wine (yes, we know they're really compatibility layers, but they provide the same functionality as emulators) can run some Windows applications under Linux. But like any virtual-machine system, they're slower than native applications and can cause user productivity to drop.

So Where Do I Start?