Microsoft’s credibility turning to junk while Linux revenue grows
By Matt Jansen
Microsoft has always obsessively favored decisions that generate profit over other considerations, but more recently the value it brings to its customers in exchange for the price premium is meeting scrutiny. Consider Windows Vista’s ridiculous reputation, and now Microsoft’s predatory advances on Yahoo. It makes Linux feel like a fresh breeze, and now businesses are showing their support for the open source OS with dollars.
The Linux Foundation recently sponsored the development of a white paper that highlights a few interesting facts. LinuxInsider writes that “by 2011, expenditures on Linux-based hardware, software and related services will reach US$49 billion, more than double 2007’s figure of $21 billion, according to the study’s authors. The growth, they said, will be driven by enterprise deployments.”
Linux has continued to improve its ease of use while maintaining a reasonable system footprint. “Business processing deployments including database, enterprise resource planning, decision support and general business processing have increased steadily in terms of their share of total workload deployments, IDC analysts found. They grew from 6.6 percent of new Linux deployments in 2003 to 8.2 percent in 2007. Similarly, decision support also saw growth, increasing to 9.1 percent in 2007 from 7.3 percent in 2003.”
Meanwhile in Microsoft’s camp: Windows Vista suffers from bloated hardware requirements, deletes and copies files slowly, provides hyperactive security features which frequently interfere with normal use, dictates digital rights management with some video files, and costs a lot.
Microsoft is also generating a fair amount of negative attention for itself by attempting to buy Yahoo through a series of predatory bids. While more competition for Google would be a good thing, Microsoft doesn’t understand how to relate to online customers accustomed to accessing products and services for free, frequently with built-in advertising.
Sweeping changes are needed in Microsoft’s go-to-market approach, and it may find more success by creating products like Live Writer, which found a huge following right away. Continuing on its current path, the company will continue to destroy its credibility and build animosity with users looking for quality products on their terms.
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April 11th, 2008
I use Linux as my primary OS, and have for a couple of years. I recommend it to users on a regular basis. I’m also responsible for IT at work where most of the servers run Linux, the majority of desktops run XP ,and we have a smattering of Macs, which are nice machines and a solid OS but not enterprise ready because of Apples wildly successful focusing on a consumer model.
Linux has made great strides as a desktop OS. Software and package management in the main distributions shame OSX and Windows. It’s easily locked down and secure.
It will not take off as a mainstream desktop OS until it is offered as a real alternative by hardware manufacturers. The Asus and other low powered, cheap, small laptops give the impression of an OS that is good for older technology.
The pulling of Linux boxes from Walmart shelves and making it an online product, along with Dell burying it’s Ubuntu machines so far down in the bowels of it’s website you need a Google search to find them, don’t really count.
Most of the bitching about Linux is hardware support and drivers. It’s amusing to hear people talking about the average user unable to do a Linux install, not realizing giving them a Windows CD/DVD without vendor supplied drivers and asking them to install the OS would result in the same issues. A “found new hardware” dialog box and black exclamation points on a yellow background in device manager is not very user friendly.
Apple having full control over the hardware and software is a great combination for stability and security, but leaves the consumer with the Henry Ford famous line about getting the Model T “in any color you want , as long as it’s black”.
Linux has more traction outside the US where cost and a disdain for proprietary locked in technology by governments is common.
While it’s been fashionable to Microbash, it’s
smart to remember the combined marketshare of it’s rivals is miniscule with nothing even close to the Microsoft support framework. They have actually made money certifying MCSE’s to take care of the pricey software they sell. This has created a huge installed corporate base and IT workers biased in the “if all you know is a hammer, every problem becomes a nail’ when looking at solutions. Linux has a long road ahead, and it should be interesting.
April 11th, 2008
I would love to live in a Linux world but unfortunately I needs apps like Photoshop and Illustrator (which do not have Linux equivalents… no matter how hard fan boys try to convince you otherwsie). As for non-existing drivers, I don’t care whose fault it is, I just want the damn thing to work.
Frankly XP (not touching Vista) is the only one that will allow me to do %100 of my work and support all my hardware (not to mention play games.. and no, Cedega is nice but hardly an ideal solution).
I keep Linux to play around with and look forward to the day it’s able to replace windows as my main OS. Until then though, I’m booting back to XP to finish my work.
April 11th, 2008
The thing is about Linux as a operating system is, it doesn’t have to try to be successful. There are no bombastic pitchmen in the Linux camp. There is nothing to WOW people over with promises and over statements. Yet Linux is up 61 % according to a recent article.
Linux is the crack in the dam of overpriced, bloated, proprietary software. And that dam is about to burst. Why ? Throughout the world there are mandates for open source, while this does not bode well for expensive proprietary software companies. Linux has quietly taken over in those areas.
With no major advertising, no special ad campaigns, no billion dollar distribution deals, Linux as a operating system replaced Windows on 9,000 school computers in Switzerland, 23,000 school computers in the Philippines go to Linux, The City of Munich is all Linux, The New York Stock Exchange moving to Linux servers. Linux has been well established and well respected in high end corporate servers for quite some time. Now Linux is poised to make that leap into the desktop in a big way.
There is also a growing trend to install Linux on computers that would be normally sold without a operating system in computer refurb shops. Linux is taking hold with long time Windows users as a second OS on their computers.
This fast growing trend is known as dual booting where one installs Linux on a Windows machine and at start up they have a windows that gives them a choice between either operating system.
There are some who are are starting out with dual booting and also installing Linux on their second or third computer for use in another part of the house. Since Linux has a higher resistance to viruses, the chances of infecting your computer nearly zero.
This makes it ideal for households who have teenagers who visit those social networking sites that can carry viruses without worrying your computer will be infected.
I did a recent installation of a dual boot of Windows XP Home and Linux Mint 4.0. Windows could not find drivers for the embedded ethernet connection and the embedded sound card, however Linux Mint found both. The installation of Linux Mint 4.0 took much less than half the time than the Windows XP Home did.
I have a old Gateway computer with a maximum RAM of 256 MB, the computer is about 400 Mhz and about eight years old. I installed Xubuntu on it, the computer loads internet sites faster than my higher end XP with 1 gig of ram and 3 GHZ. I can do email, watch streaming video, streaming audio, listen to MP3s, do email, hook my printer up to it. The cost of Xubuntu? Free just for the taking.
Tell me what operating system can run on my old G3 Power PC Mac, my low end Pentium II, my high end 3 GHz with 2 gig ram? Ubuntu will run on those G3 B & W and G3 I-Macs as well as the newest high end gaming pC type computers?
Linux has eye candy like Vista, only better… its called compiz -fusion, best news you don’t need to spend $200 to $400 on the software…its free. And chances are it should run good on a decent machine.
Linux does have a long road ahead, but its not all bumpy, and doesn’t need much effort to get there.
Will Linux outsell Windows? It can’t, because its free in most cases. Will Linux be bigger than Windows? Yes in some countries. Will Linux get bigger than its now? Lets look at Firefox, in just three and half years Firefox went from ZERO to 17% of the browser share. Imagine if Linux went from its 2 to 3 % to 17% …what kind of impact would that have?
Stay tuned.
April 12th, 2008
excellent points Ken/Ralph. I am an IT consultant an d almost all of my clients nt/2k/2k3 boxes have now been replaced by linux boxes. Several email servers with ~500k emails have been running for 4 years now, only requiring the occasional reboot total downtime in 4 yrs is a few minutes. All my clients laptops used for remote access are strictly linux only. As Mark Shuttleworth recently said the linux movement is like a glacier, slow but unstoppable. I give clients 2nd user pcs for home for the kids away for a small labour fee of installing Ububtu rather than scrapping them, and as you say they are great for kids who love to visit virus ridden websites, its a good way of recycling “redundant” PC’s and introducing linux to people. I personally have noticed a great increase in the last year alone in linux, and some people who I would rate as low-IT-skilled actually surprise me with how quickly they pick up linux, and how advanced they become. Linux is the future..simple.
April 13th, 2008
First read of Linux.
Impressed