Canonical, commercial sponsor of Ubuntu professional service company, said in a statement that it had never confirmed very high return rates of Linux-based netbooks because of issues with Linux. The company admitted that there are high return rates of cheap netbooks that come without necessary software installed and said that such systems are not the best choice.

“The launch of the Asus Eee PC with Linux in late 2007 sparked a extraordinary chain of events. We saw an increase in the number of models of computers shipping with Linux, the acceleration of the PC industry’s knowledge of how to work in a non-Windows. […] The well-engineered Linux netbooks have similar return rates to XP. What makes a real difference to return rates is not whether it’s Linux or not, but the quality of the device’s hardware and the ability to fully partake in Web and media experiences,” said Chris Kenyon from Canonical.

The official for the company explained that many netbooks with Linux came without Adobe Flash player, basic media codecs and other necessary things installed on factory. Besides, many netbooks had issues with hibernation and resuming.

“Customers have every right to expect these basics in their netbooks and we recommend them to manufacturers. Even with the Ubuntu’s philosophical and technical opposition to proprietary software, we are clear about the importance of these plug-ins to average consumers. Hey, we even recommend the purchasing of Windows Media Audio and Video codecs to OEMs,” added Mr. Kenyon.

Tags: Canonical, Ubuntu, Linux, Microsoft, ASUS, Eee