Jim Thompson wrote:
OK, but you still use Google, and very few people erect the
Googlewall that you have.
Is that what it's called? :)
They didn't have an org the size of Google (and with the branding of
Google) pushing it, either. To my mind, the missing bit in a
Google desktop is creating a support structure.
Red Hat and Novel have a support structure, so does IBM, but Google?
They would have to create one, preferably supporting the OS pre-installed.
I did manage to get my father to switch, though. I told him that
the only way he would continue to get free tech support from me is
if he converted. What does he do now? He runs all his old software
on Win4Lin, but with a couple of key exceptions, browsing and
e-mail.
I came >this close< to converting Jamie off XP in December.
Too bad. Better luck soon.
I think you are (again) dealing in historical artifact. Yes, most of
the early move was Unix -> Linux, but there is ample evidence that
Linux is now slowly eroding the growth Windows market share,
especially on the server. IDC estimated in late 2004 that linux was
growing twice as fast as Windows in the "volume server" (< $25k)
market. In late 2004, IDC estimated that Windows had a 32% market
share of the "value server" market (measured by revenue), Unix had a
36% share, and linux a 9% share. (I have no idea what "other" might
have been.)
The data also indicates that most of the switches are still from Unix.
What Linux did was limit Windows' expansion into the Unix server market.
Over the next few years, I suspect Linux growth will taper off, as will
Windows.
As you can see, if current trends continue, by 2009 there is nothing
but Windows and Linux in the "value server" market, and by 2010,
something has to give. Of course, by 2010, Microsoft will have
shipped Vista. :-)
Are you sure about Vista shipping? :) I predict stasis with Windows
owning the Exchange server segment, and smaller numbers with other types
of servers. What do you think of Open Solaris' future?
--
Hawaiian Astronomical Society: http://www.hawastsoc.org
HAS Deepsky Atlas: http://www.hawastsoc.org/deepsky
