Microsoft admits losing in the server market

[gore]

It seems Microsoft no longer is bullshitting that they have something over Linux in the Server arena.

http://www.infoworld.com/article/05/...openent_1.html

This story shows an interview with one of the guys from Windows camp saying that they know Linux wins in the server area, but they don't care because they have market.

[Black Cluster]

Yeah! Everyone knows that Linux is a great stable and reliable server software .... even people in my country believe that Linux have bashed WIndows servers long time ago .. everybody admits that but MS.

Even as a desktop OS, Linux in its variety of distors has a brilliant coming days, this OS is getting more and more support from people and companies ....

A charity in my hometown has installed Linux Mandrake on its 20 PC to teach newbies using this OS .... I know many, many people who shiftted to Linux distros...

Cheers

[CXGJarrod]

The actual quote:

Microsoft gave up pretending that Linux isn't a threat to its Windows server business a long time ago. But when the soft-spoken Allchin first brought up the server market during our conversation that afternoon, he dropped the L-word with such candor that I was frankly shocked.

"Linux is the expected winner," Allchin says, "with its lineage from Unix. But we're happy, because we're winning market share."

They are happy to be winning market share in the server area. Its interesting to see what he thinks about Linux on the desktop. (An area where MS has the numbers at the moment)

According to Allchin, most customers who buy a new computer outfitted with Linux instead of Windows are doing it solely as a cost-cutting measure. They avoid the Windows license fee at the cash register when they ask for systems with Linux preinstalled. Once they get the hardware home, however, that Linux OS is quickly erased and replaced with a pirated copy of Windows -- often within 24 hours.

Allchin calls the practice of replacing the default OS with Windows "flipping," and he says it's particularly prevalent in Asian markets, where software piracy is rampant. In China, he says, shipments of desktop Linux are actually declining. The reason? Vendors who once shipped systems with Linux preinstalled are now switching to free or low-cost versions of DOS. That's because it's a lot easier for a customer to flip a system loaded with that bare-bones OS than it is to flip a comparatively more Byzantine Linux system.

[gore]

You read that about him saying they wanted to go and market DOS again?

[CXGJarrod]

Originally posted here by gore
You read that about him saying they wanted to go and market DOS again?

Not exactly what the guy from MS said..

I was tempted to suggest that maybe there was an opportunity for Microsoft to start marketing MS-DOS again, but I didn't.

If you didnt read the article this was the author of the article referring to himself in this quote. I would of thought it was quite funny if he would of asked the MS guy that... although I have seen plenty of new computers shipped with a Free Dos cd. Dell has an "alternative" line of computers that dont come with an OS installed. (They come with Free Dos OS install CD and source code) They are decent if you already have a license of something and dont want to buy another license.