The VAR Guy

The VAR Guy was guilty of hyping Windows-based Ultra-Portables from startups like OQO a year ago, but he has drastically changed his thinking about the Ultra-Portable computer market. He thinks current market dynamics greatly favor Linux over Windows in the Ultra-Portable industry. Here’s why.

A tiny but strategic Silicon Valley company is helping Microsoft to certify open source applications for Windows Server 2008. It’s a super-smart move by Microsoft, The VAR Guy believes, as the software giant strives to compete effectively with Linux and ensure Windows Server remains popular in the age of open source.

Sure, Microsoft expects Windows’ installed base to top 1 billion licenses by the end of this year. But in the shadow of Windows Vista, a rather remarkable trend — known as an InstallFest — continues to transform Linux from a fringe desktop option into a mainstream Windows alternative. Here’s the scoop.

The VAR Guy will be all ears when Canonical’s Jono Bacon (pictured) delivers his keynote today at the Southern California Linux Expo here in Los Angeles. Bacon will discuss the future of Linux on the desktop. If you’re not here at the event, you can watch his 10 a.m. Pacific keynote online. Here’s how.

It’s time for The VAR Guy to eat a little more crow. Last week, he suggested nobody really cared about Lotusphere anymore. Boy was he wrong. Turns out IBM and the Lotus team unveiled some major partnerships at the event. Here are the top six highlights from Lotusphere, and the potential benefits for VARs.

Apple server fans and open source fanatics are about to engage in a group hug, The VAR Guy has learned. It will soon be easier to run Mac OS X and Linux side-by-side on Apple servers. How will this magic occur? The answer will surface at Macworld Expo January 14 in San Francisco. Here’s what to expect.

Time for The VAR Guy to stir up a little controversy, this time in the Linux desktop market. He thinks a small desktop setback at Red Hat could lead to more PC momentum for Ubuntu Linux. Here’s the scoop.

The VAR Guy received a rude greeting when he returned home from a business trip last night. His Ubuntu PC from Dell was dead. Fried. Done. Well, not entirely. But things were bad. The PC was displaying a bunch of errors and never fully booted up. But this sad story has a happy ending for The VAR Guy and Ubuntu.

OK, so Dell’s desktop Linux PCs aren’t setting the world on fire. The PC giant has sold about 40,000 of the Ubuntu Linux PCs since introducing them at the end of July. That’s a run rate of about 8,000 per month. And one of those systems was sold to The VAR Guy. So what will Dell do next? End the Linux experiment based on slow sales? Guess again.

Yes, you can purchase a $200 Linux PC from Wal-Mart this holiday season. That’s great news for consumers and the open source movement. But a lot of bloggers, including The VAR Guy, need to remind readers that it might be wiser to look elsewhere for affordable, reliable Linux PCs. One prime stop should be ZaReason.com. Here’s why.