Zorin PC Launched Aims to Grow Linux Popularity

I test-drove Zorin and it isn't a bad distro and yes, it mimics Windows well, but the fact that the current offerings include a dual boot option with Win7 leaves me a bit conflicted.

I understand they are marketing and including Windows is probably more of a safety net than anything, but I am wondering if it won't hurt their effort in the long run. What's to stop the user from just booting into Windows and not even bothering with Zorin? The single boot option for just Zorin machines are "coming soon". I am further curious as to how much just offering Linux drops the price of the machine.

Until the Linux development community addresses some extremely easy fixes within our GUI's and apps, we're going to remain stagnant in the market. What frustrates me most is the ease by which some of these changes could take place.

http://lwn.net/Articles/437057/

At the current conversion rate of 650 dollars US, I'm not sure this will work but I am hoping I am wrong and I wish them the best.

Yea that price is horrid. My Asus T101MT (10" netbook+tablet) with a high speed solid state hard drive came under 600$ USD over a year ago. It actually has a faster processor as well 1.66ghz

Oh yea and with dual boot Win7 pre order as the only offer is a bit, well off for someone promoting a Linux desktop.

~Jeff

Hmm.... $650 for a tablet/netbook with Linux and Windows 7, or $250 at Walmart for an Acer non-tablet netbook which I can load Linux on myself? Sorry folks, but I know which one I'd buy. A tablet feature and Linux preloaded isn't worth $400 to me.

I'm looking into marketing Linux tablets (Atom based, Ipad killer types), and there are a few of things to bring up. PC direct market retailers have to buy OEM machines at over-inflated "wholesale" prices, and then there's the cost of point-of-sale software, logistics, warehousing, customer service, returns and the potential of customs problems, etc. At the right price point you can turn a profit. A few points the other way (either way), and you are in Chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidation.

I think Zorin, as a hardware product, doesn't have the right niche. They need something unique, and a Ubuntu remix with M$ look-and-feel, at Dell price points (or above), ain't it... But I can't blast their pricing without knowing their cost to profit margin. Maybe the demand versus sales volume & the profit at that price point is all OK.

> But I can't blast their pricing without knowing their cost to profit margin.

Their pricing may be perfectly reasonable from their viewpoint and from an analysis of their costs. That doesn't make it a reasonable price from a consumer perspective. And if the customer doesn't consider the price reasonable they're not going to find many buyers.

@ jdixon:

My point is that they may not need many sales. I note that the touchscreen netbook has similar specs to my Gigabyte M912m. I paid $650 for it about 2 years ago. But newer Gigabyte models, range from $550 - $650 (Linux compatible though???).

So, they aren't totally out to lunch. However for a no-name brand they should come in $150 - $200 cheaper, rather than level.