If there is one Linux myth that must be put to bed, it's that desktop Linux has terrible hardware support out of the box. This is compete nonsense. As a matter of fact, there has been talk that to the degree of mainstream support for hardware, it rivals anything seen with Windows or OS X. Again, this is with mainstream hardware.

Linux does support a lot of hardware. Probably more than Windows, certainly more than Apple. Greg K-H says people want Linux kernel source / binary compatibility for the driver support. What Linux doesn't do so great job of is supporting new hardware.

It may seem a bit ridiculous to some, but on more than one occasion I have been asked to help address a Windows hardware issue by assisting with Linux. The "hardware" problems these people faced were quickly reconciled either by placing Linux on an existing secondary partition of the hard disk, or by using a Linux Live-CD.

One of the things that many people buying new computer or other hardware consider is the hardware compatibility with GNU/Linux. Actually many people do not even think about that. They just go to the shop, buy something that they liked and after that go home and install some distribution.

Whenever I have conversations with people about windows and Linux they always ask me what is so good about Linux. They see something that looks pretty (OK, OK, so I like my bling :) and gives them a wow factor but it is not enough. I can talk about Linux's superior multitasking and hardware support or security against virus's and spyware and I get the gazed donut look in pretty short order.

Perhaps one of the most common myths surrounding desktop Linux is the belief that modern distributions do not provide decent hardware support.
In this article, I'll not only provide what I deem to be significant evidence to the contrary, but also provide real examples of PC peripherals and hardware that work out of the box, often with little to no configuration involved.

I just read Free Software Magazine's article about the state of Linux hardware support. While I agree in many ways about the lack of vendor support for Linux, there is another side to the story. Think about the last time you bought a piece of hardware that worked perfectly with Linux.

Can Google save desktop Linux? Or more accurately, can online applications?

Linux isn't very popular on the desktop. It's a far third behind OS X, which is a very far second behind Windows. Most people cite pre-installed operating systems as the reason. But as a student of psychology, I see something most people don't. There's one big factor in why Linux isn't popular on the desktop. Linux is free. I know this sounds like complete dog's bollocks, but hear me out before judging my sanity.