The average home user expects to have multimedia capabilities built into any operating system they choose. Linux has always been somewhat behind Windows in this area. Is this still the case? Many distro developers have made an effort to rectify this situation - just look at the number of distributions where the release information inludes the phrase “additional multimedia applications built in.” There is still some way to go, however. This Newsforge article looks at the current state of multimedia and then highlights where it should be. In particular the article cites web multimedia as one of the areas where Linux lags behind Windows. Multimedia issues must be sorted out for Linux to be truly ready for the desktop market. How will we know when it’s ready? The article answers, “When the Web and multimedia developers are more united, and we’re legally happy with the DVD Consortium, we’ll be halfway there. When a user can jump onto any Linux box and easily install a new program, no matter where he got it, in exactly the same manner as he can on any other Linux box, we’ll be ready with a standard desktop, multimedia aside.”