Neither RedHat nor Novell feel the need to push for a Linux Desktop that competes with the ubiquitous Windows OS. So the two largest commercial Linux vendors are throwing in the towel in the Desktop arena. There it is. Now go by yourselves a copy of Windows Vista--and while you're at it, buy a new computer to run it.
The grand, unified user displeasure with Windows Vista should have given our beloved Linux companies a boost in the right direction--should have--but didn't. The campaign to keep Windows XP has had some effect on Microsoft's plan to stop supporting the best OS Microsoft has produced to date. Microsoft realized that it would lose a significant market share to the low cost and ultra low cost PC market if it didn't revise it's plan to halt production and support of Windows XP.
The fact is that Vista won't work on those PCs. Microsoft can produce all the cute videos they want but Vista will still join the ranks of Windows Me as a great failure and the greatest potential opportunity for Linux to make ground in the once highly-prized desktop space.
I am disappointed, to say the least, at this latest turn of events from the leaders in the Linux market. Linux doesn't have to be great at everything but to submit at this point is admitting defeat at one of the most significant turning points in computing history: The mobile desktop revolution. Ultra low cost PCs and mobile platforms will be the focus of OS vendors in the coming years and this is the wrong time to give up. Linux shines on those two platforms but I feel that light has dimmed with the latest news from RedHat and Novell.