Closing Windows. Opening Linux?
It doesn't have to be Windows or even the Mac OS. A free system called Linux is winning lots of fans....
"Linux is an operating system like Windows. You could consider it a replacement for Windows 95 or NT. It was originally developed on the Internet by people on the Internet. So it's a new model of developing software that really makes it interesting."
Dr. Larry Augustin heads a company called VA Linux...it makes Linux based computers and runs the linux.com web site. The operating system may not be as consumer friendly as Windows or the Mac OS, but that has been changing...and increasing numbers of programs are being written for it too. Even if you don't install it in your PC, chances are you'll be using it anyway...
"I think it'll show up first in the consumer market first as embedded devices...set top boxes, personal assistants. For example there's a company called Tivo that makes a VCR-like recording device that sits on top of a TV, that's based on Linux."
Another alternative operating system focuses on making it easier to work with video, graphics and sound. It is called the Be OS. Be VP Tim Self...
"Well our market would be digital content creators. People who are making digital videos, who are composers, who are in post-production houses."
The price...under seventy dollars. The web site... be.com