I am not sure there is a real market for Linux desktops. People [like Corel and other Linux distributors] with server operating systems seem to have this death wish to compete head to head with Windows. No one has ever done it successfully.

I think it's a reasonable model. It eliminates flakiness of patching and upgrading software.

Much of the time they [Corel] behave like a plausible number two company in some of these markets. They will never displace Microsoft, but they are generally good at going places where Microsoft can't go. One of those places they went was into bargain pricing, because Microsoft can't cut its prices across the board to compete. They continuously find points of vulnerability at Microsoft. Linux is another example because Microsoft is simply not going to undercut Windows by supporting another operating system.

Corel does have a serious support problem. Not sure how well it is known. Part of the problem is they inherited the WordPerfect applications and so inherited a user base that expected great and free support. But what did they do? They started charging for it and producing [inadequate] support. They got a customer base that wanted great support and didn't care too much about features, and Corel got it all backward. Their support is miserable.

I wouldn't be surprised if someday Office comes as part of a basic cable service, for a few dollars a month.

A true remote execution has a tiny footprint and won't need much of a system.