Linux vendors hope to ride PC upgrade wave

Gartner is predicting that 220 million desktop PCs will be replaced over the next two years, a prospect that has Linux vendors licking their lips. Linux vendors are salivating at the prospect of taking market share away from Microsoft's Windows in the PC desktop market as enterprises embark on the biggest desktop refresh since Y2K. On Tuesday, Gartner published a report predicting that over the next two years 220 million corporate desktop PCs will be replaced: 100 million in 2004 and 120 million in 2005. The company said this will be the largest hardware refresh since Y2K.

Linux's share of the desktop PC market is growing, but is still a small fraction in comparison to the 90 percent-plus market share enjoyed by Windows. However, the use of Linux in enterprise servers has grown dramatically over the past few years, which gives Linux vendors hope that a massive refresh in desktop hardware could trigger a small, but significant, move away from Microsoft's Windows.

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