[JeremyNT]

I ran Debian at the time, but I worked in PC repair, and I remember being really excited about Linux being installed on PCs you could buy at a store.

It felt like there was a small "window" of opportunity where a competitor to MS might have been able to gain some traction. On those low end computers the "Windows tax" could amount to a large percentage of the overall cost.

Sadly I think Lindows was just a little too late to the table. People were already used to the proprietary software they had, and OpenOffice was new and junky - a tough sell for people used to the MS suite. IE was also dominant, and the browser situation on Linux was a real problem due to ActiveX and other IE-only things that kept kicking around for years.

I also think the "Lindows" name did it no favors with those of us who already ran Linux. I remember reading about it on slashdot, but I mostly discounted it for my own use because of the branding.