The cost of migrating from Windows XP to Windows Vista will encourage more companies to seriously consider moving to desktop Linux, the chief executive of open-source and networking company Novell said on Monday.
Speaking at Brainshare, the company's annual European user conference in Barcelona, Novell CEO Jack Messman claimed that the cost of moving desktops to the next version of Windows will be significantly higher than migrating to desktop Linux. "The cost of migrating to Windows XP to Vista will be higher than the cost of migrating to Linux and that will push migrations to Linux," Messman said.
Novell says it is making real gains on the desktop in Europe currently and that many organizations are choosing its Linux Desktop product especially in vertical industries that require locked-down clients with limited functionality. "Instead of a 'one-size-fits-all' approach, Novell Desktop can be customized to provide the right fit across different workstations in the enterprise," said David Patrick, general manager of open-source platforms for Novell.
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Right . . great . . . then turn around and pay for additional training cost, because employees can't learn the new O/S?
Oh, but wait, it COSTS much less to begin with, and saves productivity in the workplace 24\7, thus not only paying for itself, but saving money in the longrun.
So, Massachusetts might be considering this? I think that is the unspoken selling point here.
He claimed that the fact that Novell's desktop Linux offering has less functionality than Microsoft Office is actually a positive rather than a negative thing. Messman claimed that certain features of Office allowed employees to waste time at work by making it easy for them to browse non-work-related sites. "Do you really want to pay for all the excess functionality in Windows that distracts your employees and reduces their productivity?"
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us windows xp refugees will flock towards linux. It be our jessie jackson.
I dont think many will move towards Linux, they know people are more familiar with Windows, most software is compatible with windows and not Linux, it'd be dumb to move to Linux.
the key here is not joe user persay, but govt, corp., small business....if they lead, then the consumer will have to follow.......Originally Posted by Vampmon
Mac as alternative vs. upgrade costs to Windows Vista? Anyway, I think Microsoft may not be the only choice in the future!
If Linux had an easy to use installation system and not the aweful complex system it has now, it would be perfect.
I completely agree with this. If Linux was a little more user friendly like windows is then more would realize that it is a better more effiecient operating system. Me personally, I tried linux a few times with no clue on how to work things. I got my wireless internet to work and that was about it I didn't understand how to install programs or where to find them. It just seems to complex for the switch of windows to linux.
What software or utility hardware computer product have you bought "over the counter" as of late, that didn't say, "Works with Windows XP/2000/Me?" Add "Vista" to that list soon and see where the real market is cornered.
Next...
I wanna switch but I don't think I can do half the stuff I can with windows mabye I'm wrong.
Heh, have you ever tried to install Windows before? Not saying it's exactly a hard thing to delete unwanted systray programs from HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curre ntVersion\Run, and also go to Control Panel -> Administrative Tools -> Services -> LexmarkBanner -> Disable, and the folders My Computer -> C -> Documents and Settings -> Default User -> Startup/Desktop/SendTo, after your printer driver installs adware, but you know... somehow it doesn't seem as elegant as say, Gentoo's 'rc-update delete httpd default'.
To install most flavors of Linux:
- partition your hard drive. Or just use one partition.
- choose the programs you want. Or just go default.
- satisfy package dependancies. (The computer does this for you.)
- sit back, and relax. Note, step 3 also involves lots of relaxing.
Just my 2 ruples.
if they lead, then the software will follow. The biggest problem with Linux is all that Windows only software that people can't stand to leave behind.
Linux installers did at one time really suck, but recently I did both a Debian install and an XP Pro install on the same machine (but different disks), and guess what? The latest Debian installer at least as easy to use as the WinXP Pro installer, with the added bonus that it correctly identified all on my hardware (my machine is fairly new) and installed the drivers, where WInXP failed to for a couple of things.
As for ongoing software package maintenance, Synaptic (a GUI front-end to the apt subsystem) rules supreme on Debian for non-technical users. My brother is one of the alternative/hippie crowd and I recently set him up with Debian. He is quite able to maintain software packages on his machine without my help - which was a pleasant surprise.
Linux is much more daunting than Windows. That is a fact.
Something as small as installing VLC.
Mac, drag it into Applications
Windows, double click the installer
Ubuntu (the only linux dist I have experience with), you have to go about adding extra repositories and using the command line. OR use synaptic, where you still have to go googling to find out which packages to install as there are a number of packages containing 'vlc'
I know its not difficult to do, but its not straight forward either.
With a Mac or Windows OS, you can pretty much figure it out in 5 minutes if youd never used them before.
The radical invents the views. When he has worn them out the conservative adopts them.
Mark Twain
The fact when it comes down to moving from one OS to another (I don't care what OS you currently use, and which one you move to), the fact is most people get set in their ways, and they don't like / want to learn anything else.
For example, my friend's dad is a hardcore user of Internet Explorer - even though we've both told him the benefits of Firefox (and how they greatly outweigh IE), he doesn't swtich. Not because he uses IE only sites, but because it's different and he's stuck in his ways.
Honestly, I've been using Linux for a while, and it's not that much more difficult then Windows - it is different though. If you don't believe me, try cleaning up a nasty spyware infection in Windows - you'll end up using multiple antispyware programs, using system restore, shifting through the registry, and sometimes manually deleting some files. That's not exactly easy.
Also, people fall in love with certain types of applications that don't run in other OSes - and, the thought of switching to a new application scares a lot of people. That's why I believe Windows will continue to be the donimating OS in the home market for years to come.
However, when it comes to business, businesses don't care too much when it comes to the software title itself; they care about what's going to be the most productive and cheapest - and, if they see Linux as being cheaper and more productive, that means that they're going to switch.
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