It seems that as time goes on, those who
support a particular vendor’s operating system have allowed
the chasm to grow deeper, not between the choices at hand
but between their position and fact. In order to put things
into perspective, you really need to step back. Academia
tells students one thing, the press is quick to jump on the
bandwagon, and everyone including the European Union seems
to think that the product from Redmond (to use a line from
Adam Sandler’s “The Waterboy’) is “the Devil.” Everyone
likes to complain, but yet, the marketplace has done little
to change the complexion of the computing landscape.
Apple Entertainment
No,
I am not talking about an I-Pod or I-Tunes, I am talking
about entertainment! Everyone has seen the Mac and PC
advertisements. They are funny. They are entertaining. Yet,
they are much like the political advertisements we are about
to be bombarded with again: They point out the flaws,
shortcomings or “features”’ on Microsoft’s products, while
inferring the problems that Microsoft has, with endless
patches, just goes on and on. Microsoft has played this card
in the past too, in an ad where someone picks up a chair on
the roadside with an Apple sitting in it, only to discover a
smell in the car which results in the Apple being placed
back on the curb. Yes, these ads are funny, but they do not
leave you with a sense that one product is superior to
another with any concrete evidence or fact. They really do
little to promote what is good about a product, but rather
point out the shortcomings of another product.
What about Linux?
Yes, Linux is out there, and some people use it. With all of
its flavors, it has a relatively small portion of the market
share. Why? For the same reason Apple has a smaller market
share than Microsoft: applications. The most widely used
applications today run on some flavor of Microsoft Windows.
I am not touting the product, just stating a fact, one I can
back up with data. Everyone says there are too many flavors
of Windows, yet, with its open source and a plethora of
companies selling it, Linux has more versions and
subversions than Windows.
What about Market Share?
There are those that argue that market share cannot be used
to determine the quality of the product. Those folks can
argue all they want, but the fact is there are more personal
computers running Windows today than all other operating
systems combined. Yet critics content Windows is not
reliable? Well, according to the Yankee Group, only
Unix-based operating systems beat Windows on uptime. Windows
2003 Server led Red Hat Enterprise Linux with nearly 20
percent more annual uptime. One percent of enterprise
customers run Linux desktops, according to the Gartner
Group. That number is expected to reach 3.2 percent by the
end of 2008. According to Market Share by Net Applications,
this is the breakdown of market penetration in March 2007 by
operating system:
Patches, we don’t need no stinking
patches!
(With apologies to Mel Brooks)
Okay,
we all saw the headlines about Microsoft’s Patch Release on
May, 8, 2007. On that day, Microsoft issued software updates
to plug at least 19 separate security holes in its Windows
operating system and other software, including two
vulnerabilities that criminals are actively exploiting to
take control of Windows PCs. Mac had one too. On April 23 of
this year, Apple reported fixes for 25 Mac OS X flaws. Yes,
Linux has patches too, as does the Firefox browser, Opera,
etc. The bottom line is no product is perfect; if it were,
we would all be using it. To a big extent all the contention
between Microsoft and Mac users is like the spouting of
those who like Ford trucks over Chevy trucks. Each swears
they have the best and the other one is junk!
Everyone Lies!
Everyone lies; a line used repeatedly by Hugh Laurie on
Fox’s “House.” While in the computing world, the lies may be
masked untruths or simple lies of omission, the thing is
that if you have more product installed, running a larger
application base than anyone else in the world, you will be
a bigger target for programmers who want to find and exploit
weaknesses and you will have a larger number, overall, of
patches than anyone else. Simple math would indicate the
probability of this to be the case when you have more than
90 percent of the world’s installed base. Does that mean
Microsoft should be complacent? No! Does it mean that
innovation is done? No again. Remember, in 1899, then Patent
Commissioner, Charles H. Duell reportedly announced that
"everything that can be invented has been invented."
Obviously, he was wrong. If someone can invent a better
operating system, it will happen, and those of you who think
that Microsoft or anyone else can squash that creativity
with all of the scrutiny they are under, well, I doubt it.
If you have questions or comments about this article,
contact me (JohnBoline@hagerman.com).
All product names / logos, company names /
logos are copyrights of their respective holders. John Boline is an MCSE,
CNE, USE and a member of the Network Professional Association. The content
herein is often based on late-breaking events. Much of the material is based
on information from sources that are believed to be reliable. Hagerman &
Company, Inc. disclaims all warranties as to the ultimate accuracy or
completeness of the information. Hagerman & Company, Inc. and its employees
shall have no liability for errors, omissions or inadequacies in the
information contained within this article or for any interpretations
thereof. The recommendations, positions and best practice policies outlined
herein represent Hagerman & Company, Inc. initial analysis and therefore are
subject to change as further information which may have bearing on these
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selection of these materials to achieve its intended results. The opinions
expressed herein are subject to change without notice. Entire contents ©
2007 Hagerman & Company, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction of this
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