Preston Gralla, a Windows user since the dark days of Windows 3.1, describes his first experiences with Linux. Sadly, for the open-source community, Gralla is unconvinced by the experience.

I was surprised at how simple it was to install and get up to speed on Linux. And the desktop has some nice touches that Windows could learn from. The applications didn’t win me over, though. In fact, when it comes to Linux on the desktop, I don’t get the point, really. Yes, the desktop is pretty, but I was expecting more than a pretty face.

No big deal? If Linux is ever to make serious inroads onto the desktop then users like Gralla are exactly the ones that the OS has to impress.

Linux enjoys a vast catalogue of first-class productivity software, but the UIs are often convoluted and non-intuitive. Furthermore, documentation is frequently incomplete, vague or too “technical” for the average person.

The open-source community has invested vast amounts of effort, delivered amazing software and built a world-class operating system. It would be a terrible shame if it were all for nothing because the “unsexy” bits are neglected.