There have been several announcements and items in the press about new OS releases. These apply to both Server OS and Desktop OS.
Article: Linux at a Crossroads in the Enterprise
First, Is Linux ready for the Corporate Desktop? Well from what I've personally seen in the corporate environment... no. Users are really tied to their Windows Applications, such as MS Access and others. In my environment full of nurses, and doctors it would be very stressful for the end users to change. However while I was at Novell, the migration to Linux on the desktops was very successful. Yeah... if you work with a company full of tech geeks! Of course it was. But here is my take - Bring Linux into your corporate environment as a choice. Let the techies install it or have it as a choice. At least allow the techies to dual boot. I try to use Novell Linux Desktop as much as possible, but I still have to resort to using MS Windows from time to time.
As a home desktop Linux is most definately ready for prime time!
Soon we'll have to choose with future releases of Windows Vista with the six flavors, and / or new versions of Linux with the new Kernal such as Novell Linux Desktop 10 which is sporting some very cool new features. If you do decide to go Windows Vista, be ready to take out your wallet for some serious upgrading of hardware and migration of some Windows Applications. Or you may just get by with Windows Vista pre-installed on new hardware. The Linux Desktop is definately more cost effective.
Now for the OS Server Side:
Quote, "Linux servers generated $1.6 billion in quarterly revenue, the fourteenth consecutive quarter of double-digit growth, with year-over-year revenue growth of 20.8 percent. For the full year, Linux server revenue was $5.7 billion, rising to third place for the first time as businesses found new ways to deploy Linux servers."
Article: Linux, Windows gain in Server Space
It's time to take a serious look at your future OS strategy and Linux should be a serious consideration. I'm particularly talking to the NetWare shops out there. What about new training? What about skilled IT workers? In my opinion and I'm talking to mostly Novell NetWare customers, Novell has a great strategy to help you migrate from NetWare to Linux. Novell offers free online training and great tools to migrate to OES linux with the same look and feel of using eDirectory with ConsoleOne, Novell Remote Manager, iManager, and allowing the Novell Clients to connect to Linux without any changes for the end user. You can also run Novell GroupWise PO's on Linux and soon Lotus Notes. To me, and I admit I'm a Novell advocate (or Novell Bigot as some of my customers used to say), it's a no brainer. One more factor, Novell OES linux is here now. Windows Longhorn is still a few months away. Virtualization which is a big deal is here now with Linux. With Windows Longhorn... we're looking at 2009.
Article: Can Microsoft Keep the OS Server lead?
For many customers it may make sense to stick to Windows, particularly if you're entrenched in Windows Client / Server applications, but still the cost savings with a Linux Strategy is worth a look. And if you're still using Novell NetWare and there are a lot of customers still using NetWare, the Novell Migration Strategy is definately worth a look!
- Bucky
Other resources:
Quote: Speaking at Novell's BrainShare conference and expo in Barcelona, Spain, Messman said, "The cost of migrating from XP to Vista will be higher than the cost of migrating to Linux and that will push migrations to Linux."
Reference Article: Novell CEO sees Vista as a Desktop Linux Opportunity
3 comments:
actively encouraging my customers to stay with Netware as it outperforms Linux and has every server service available.
Eh, not so sure of that. My own internal testing showed that NCP-on-Linux actualy beat out NCP-on-NetWare when run from the same server hardware. I was surprised.
test again
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