“A major hurdle for any Linux desktop rollout is hardware
compatibility, or lack thereof. Whether leveraging older hardware
or rolling out new systems, ensuring that every component in the
desktop works as it should is key.“Linux’s compatibility shortcomings were apparent as I tested
these four Linux desktop solutions. For the desktop-class tests, I
used four Hewlett-Packard Kayak XU800 workstations with a single
Pentium III 866MHz CPU. These systems are a bit long in the tooth,
but they did provide a good representation of corporate desktop
systems late in the replacement cycle. None of the distributions
had any substantial problems with the hardware on the XU800s,
although SuSE did not automatically discover the sound card…”