What is Digg?Sponsored by truTV
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- atdigg, on 10/12/2007, -3/+44Key words: "Microsoft-sponsored report"
- postaldave, on 10/12/2007, -0/+17a study sponsored by my wife clearly shows that she does more around the house then i do. i thought i did more but a study is a study. i must be wrong.
- 16x9, on 10/12/2007, -0/+16In other news...
* McDonalds issues study showing that the Big Mac tastes better than a Whopper.
* Ford releases study demonstrating that the Ranger is tougher than the GMC Sierra.
* Yahoo! publishes results of tests showing that their users get results while Google's users receive a sexually transmitted disease. - GeekyGirl, on 10/12/2007, -3/+18I want to remind people to look carefully at the source of your information in order to determine credibility. I have been involved in enough market research to know that the questions asked can have a large impact on the results of any study. Maybe this study is accurate, but I would tend not to rely on it to support any arguments the same way that I would not rely on a report sponsored by a Linux vendor to answer the same research question. The best data comes from un-sponsored research conducted by an independent, neutral third party.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+15To be fair, we all get bored eventually with our OS of choice and do migrate elsewhere for a breath of fresh air.
That being said. I've seen plenty of both happy and pissy MS users switch to linux. Never, not once, have a i seen someone give Linux an honest chance, and happily go back to MS.
While paying attention to who backed the report is an important lesson for some, i wouldn't even need to know that. My perception serves me well enough to call b.s. - supercleanse, on 10/12/2007, -1/+12The only reason Microsoft is the dominant software vendor is because of fear. People in general are motivated by only two things -- pleasure and by avoiding pain and most middle managers are more concerned with the second (avoidance of pain). Look at all of Microsoft's advertising -- it is geared towards people who are afraid of technology (aka. most middle managers) or interested in avoiding pain. Some of their fear based marketing strategies include the Anti-Linux "Get the Facts" campaign and the Office Dinosaur. The problem is, once they make their first deal with Microsoft it is game-over -- Microsoft doesn't make products that inter-operate with other systems -- they are only interested in locking the consumer into their products--products which I might add are ridden with bugs, susceptible to worms, viruses and spy-ware, and are generally unstable. Simply said, Microsoft is more of a Marketing company than a Technology company and it is too bad that most Middle-Managers are to gutless to make the right decision -- they just want to avoid making the wrong one.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -3/+12Oh yes Microsoft is a WINNER!! (DRIPPING SARCASM) :) heh.
- wonderbud, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8who funded it?
thankyou. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -2/+10Most end users don't know what they want
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8"But Linux is damned hard to maintain."
Wait, what? It's pretty damn easy to maintain, with tons of tools at your disposal. A degree in computer science to use? Tell that to the hundreds of people trying out Linux with Ubuntu. Or business workstations running SuSE. Heck, the site you're using right this moment is running on Linux: http://toolbar.netcraft.com/site_report?url=http://www.digg.com - trogdoor, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8Yeh, and so is UNIX. If they are migrating from UNIX then they want an OS for engineers by engineers not a dancing paper clip. Yes Linux has some problems making an OS for end-users if the end user is your grandmother who wants to write E-mail (although that is getting better) but for engineers who want to manage servers its always *NIX FTW. Because engineers do have a pretty good concept of what _they_ expect and desire.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9It's b/c this garage OS has the potential to ruin them. Sure, linux has a way to go. It has for a long time. But you can't compete with free. That's the bottom line.
- lordTalus, on 10/12/2007, -4/+12The M$ vs *nix battle is gay. Use the right tool for the right job and move on.
What is compelling is that a billion dollar corporation is vexed by an operating system built in the "garage". - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8No corporation in their right mind (not necessarily common) would switch from Unix to windows.
It just doesnt happen often in the real world.
Linux definitely requires a learning curve on the on the half of IT departments - but if they were a Unix shop to begin with? Its not much of a curve.
Despite what people who dont know better say, linux is NOT hard to maintain - The expense with Linux is in the initial planning, once you decide what you want - maintenance is practically NILL - assuming of course your 'setup' didnt involve giving every user root access.
There are a lot of people in here spewing false information and just plain garbage. If they knew half as much as they think they do... well you know the rest. - psyon, on 10/12/2007, -2/+9@fly1m1
I use linux, and the only system here that has windows is my wifes, because she wont let me change it over. I do keep a copy of windows XP inside a virtual machine, but its sole purpose is to use IE to test web sites. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7@spdorsey
think of it more in these terms
MS= Britney Spears
OSX= Linkin Park
Linux= Tool
Oh nice that you tried out some quality distros, though i think yo u should give Ubuntu a try. This is THE linux for the end user i feel. Install, setup apps, most drivers supplied upon install.. and no maintenence really needed afterwards. Plus.. great forums full of helpful people. - takeda, on 10/12/2007, -2/+9Don't buy crappy hardware then :)
- beforeIforget, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7It's very unfortunate that these company-sponsored reports are usually used in IT to backup a decision. I've seen it many times... most decision-makers are not astute enough (or care enough) to tell the difference.
- xst4t1kx, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8This just in: Microsoft says people like Microsoft.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7I agree that Linux isn't for everyone. And i have no problem with that whatsoever.
But where the perception is skewed, is the average user. The person who doesn't even know there's an option to Microsoft. They don't know what linux is. They barely understand what an Apple is for crying out loud. They know the name, but that's about it. The average user who isn't even aware of OSS, the average user who if thrown on a pre-setup *nix system who would get along just fine. And hell.. probably better due to lack of virus and spyware issues.
I dunno, i got my grandmother and mother running linux for crying out loud and they like it better b/c they don't get as many pop up errors and the like. The just web browse, check email and play solitarie. The place i work.. there's no reason each employee couldn't be on a Linux box. God knows my job would be easier knowing the wouldn't know how to install stupid crap. I mean.. there's no Bonzai Buddy for linux. Ya know? - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7"All three are WAAAAY too hard for the casual user."
Okay. I'll bite. Why? Also, why in polyester ***** are you bringing up home users when this entire story is about businesses and (mostly) servers? - drizek, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7Thats not really true. Artwork in linux is done by artists and interface design is done by usability people.
Smaller projects may suffer from poor design/ugliness, but core KDE apps for example are all very well designed. - nstanosheck, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7Maybe this is Microsoft's April Fool's Day joke? ;-)
- supercleanse, on 10/12/2007, -2/+8And Windows is "easy" to maintain? I've had Linux on my laptop for over a year now and I haven't had any instability or reason to reinstall the OS -- with Windows I was having to re-install the OS about every 3 months because of Spy-ware/Viruses and Registry problems. With that said, Linux still is unsuitable for the average user -- however MacOSX is about 2 years ahead of the latest MS OS in terms of features and is an absolute joy to maintain. The only thing Windows has above other OSes is Software and Device support from 3rd parties -- and once process Virtualization comes into play (Xen on Linux and OSX Leopard will take advantage of process virtualization on new Intel Processors), it won't even have that.
- vuke69, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6After reading TFA, I came to a totally different conclusion.
Read the following bit: "In terms of units, Windows will be installed on 44.8 per cent of those replacement servers, but Linux on only 37.1 per cent of them, found the survey."
Since current Linux market share is less than 37.1%, and current windows market share is more than 44.8%.
Doesn't that mean that Linux adoption rates are going up, even if they are still less than windows? - gmerin, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6and more cola drinkers prefer Coke than Pepsi, says the study commissioned by Coke. even more prefer 7-Up, says the 7-Up sponsored studies. isn't it interesting that no study ever indicates that more people drink water than either Coke, Pepsi, or 7-Up? I guess there's no Water, Inc. paying for the study.
Generally you get what you pay for.
If the group running the study doesn't confirm the sponsor's pre-determined outcome the researchers are at fault, not the sponsor's desired outcome. The solution is to hire another researcher who knows better, and will discover what the corporate sponsor already knows is the truth, because no corporate manager can cost-justify discovering the non-truth, and no manager will ever admit they made a mistake and wasted their employer's money (not if he wants to remain employed). - MyNameIsLee, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6I switched to linux about 6 months ago out of frustrating with xp and although I am by no means a linux guru I will never switch back to Microsoft for my main OS. I do plan on using vista for games but that's about it...and that's only if they deliver the specs they say they can.
Linux is not for the average computer user...yet. Red Hat and Fedora are great places to start though(I'm currently using fedora 4 and ubuntu). In 6 months I've had NO stability problems whatsoever...with xp I had to clean it out ever 3 months or so and for good measure I would reinstall ever 6 months and that gets to be a pain if you're like me and have over 6 thousand songs on your comp. - TeacherOfHeroes, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5Indeed, think about how much bigger a switch it is from Unix to Windows than it is from Unix to Linux. If you're moving from Unix to Linux, there should be enough compatibility that you can more often smoothly transition one piece at a time spread out over a number of years - just whenever you need to upgrade anyways. So companies are probably more likely to be making a *big* switch within 2 years if they are moving to windows.
So Unix to Windows isn't necessarily more common than Unix to Linux, it could just as easily be called more disruptive. - clevershark, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5You'd be amazed at the amount of money MS is spending so they can claim wins on the PR front. Sure it's more profitable to switch to Windows if you're visible enough -- mostly because you tally up the Microsoft bribes (in the form of free licenses, support, etc.) in the calculations. And guess who gets screwed into paying for this? Everyone who buys a computer or Windows upgrade.
Much in the same way crack dealers create addicts, "the first one's free", and next thing you know you're so tied down to Windows you can't even consider switching to anything else. Want to know the real reason MS is switching to a database-based file system for Vista? Because it's the best way to make MS file system shares unusable by other OS's. - hashkaran, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5......"A survey, conducted by IDC on Microsoft's behalf,"........
Makes complete sense... survey done on Microsoft's behalf. - fredinator, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6Actually i prefer playing games on linux rather than windows (with cedega)
If only it was free, then more people I know would switch to linux - bulio, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5I've been using Linux (tried a few distros for a year now. I have no problems, and don't miss Windows one bit. Although my other desktop runs Windows, its mainly for my family. I really don't miss Windows at all.
- spdorsey, on 10/12/2007, -4/+7What do they expect?!?!
I have used linux extensively and, although the user experience is ALMOST there, the maintenance and upgrades (as well as the apps) are TOTALLY not up to snuff. This is a product of an OS that is designed and developed for end users by engineers. Engineers traditionally have no concept of what an end user expects or desires. - anagami, on 07/02/2008, -1/+4"To be fair, we all get bored eventually with our OS of choice and do migrate elsewhere for a breath of fresh air."
I tought that it was generally agreed that inertia is the main force driving Windows users to update to the next pathetic attempt of a beta OS that our current "standard OS" is... - Simon80, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5@fly1m1:
Mac OS X is barely an example of a Unix distribution, let alone being a Linux distribution, which it certainly is not. - ozgurgerilla, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4linux is not good for me because: some hardware drivers are not supported which disables me from producing music and a lot of good production software's are not developed for the linux platform. so im stuck with crap windows.
- barbobot, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3it runs all apps? even apt? what about dpkg? How about any centralized package managment?
- Tux42, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I'm sorry for being seem somewhat flippant but, what should a mature OS look like?
The original release of Windows XP had so many security holes you could fit a bus through it. There was a study where a group tested several computers including a computer running XP SP1 and one running XP SP2. The SP2 computer was not compromised, but the SP1 computer was compromised within about 8 minutes.
Finally, I would like to point out that Windows XP is an OS while Linux is a kernel. Furthermore, it is my understanding that most vulnerabilities in a Linux do not originate within the kernel but in the applications that run and the improper settings. The same cannot necessarily be said for Windows because Explorer has bugs and unless I am mistaken Explorer *IS* the kernel.
Have a nice day :) - wonboodoo, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3While you are right for the most part, I disagree when you say "no corporation". Any corp of significant size (say over a couple hundred employees) probably has both *nix and MS in their shop. So the direction they head when they get rid of those Unix servers really depends on the politics of the I.T. department. I agree that Linux is the most likely choice (and it's the way we've gone in our corp) but it's no slam-dunk decision. If a corp has significant numbers of Windows servers already (for file/print serving and desktop authentication) then they could go that way too for their other apps for standardization purposes.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Mac OS= Britney Spears (The Original)
MS Windows= Hilary Duff (Kind of the same, Doesn't look as hot)
OSX= Jessica Alba (Finally, Perfection)
Linux= The Girl Next Door (Looks pretty good, cheap) - OBKenobi, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Linux needs apps! That's about it at this point. The GUI is now just as good as Windows, it's fairly easy to use. Oh yes, hardware support could be improved.
But for servers, why the hell would you use Windows? That's just asking for trouble. It is less stable, unpredictable (same setup doesn't work the same on two identical machines), less secure, and closed-source. With Linux, you can customize it for your needs. Take for instance what Weta and ILM have done with Linux, you can't create render farms like that with Windows! - GuineaPig, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3I'm skeptical because of the source. Nevertheless, Linux gurus are more scarce and, therefore, costly.
Administration costs way more than the raw technology, which is why Apple computers can cost businesses less than commodity computers in some scenarios. - JQP123, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4"... independent, neutral third party."
Doesn't exist. Virtually everyone has an agenda, opinion, bias, past association, business relationship, personal preference, etc.. Anyone who does not is probably not qualified to do the research. - STDOUBT, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4FWIW, I think 'Linux advocates' should give up on
a push to Joe Consumer. I give not one hang if the
masses make the switch. Business yes. Pound the
***** out of business until they see the light. Makes
life better for IT people. But -every time I hear "Linux
is ALMOST THERE" out of the mouth of a "Linux
user" I think to myself: "GOOD! I hope it's never THERE for
the "end user"; ***** the end user!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Now back to my "almost there" desktop.... - CrimsonParser, on 10/12/2007, -4/+6Exactly, Windows from games and Linux for everything else. :)
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -4/+6No corporation in their right mind (not necessarily common) would switch from Unix to windows.
It just doesnt happen often in the real world.
Linux definitely requires a learning curve on the on the half of IT departments - but if they were a Unix shop to begin with? Its not much of a curve.
Despite what people who dont know better say, linux is NOT hard to maintain - The expense with Linux is in the initial planning, once you decide what you want - maintenance is practically NILL - assuming of course your 'setup' didnt involve giving every user root access.
There are a lot of people in here spewing false information and just plain garbage. If they knew half as much as they think they do... well you know the rest. - xlocust, on 10/12/2007, -5/+7I will be buried for sure for saying this but here it goes (just to let you know beforehand that i am no MS fan boy)....I have an ati x700 video card..it has 256MB of DDR3 ram, dvi outputs, etc..not exactly "crappy" hardware..however, it is not "Linux ready" out of the box (it takes a couple two three hours to set up)...until Linux distro's become more "user friendly"(ie' support for ati cards out of box, plug and play, etc) then it will remain a computer geek only operating system for running servers regardless of if it is free or not.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2It's like the old saying goes, Microsoft is a combination of the Borg and the Ferengi. Unfortunately, the Borg do their marketing and the Ferengi do their programming.
- mingyeow, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2I agree.... and a unified stand by all linux distros towards having a double-click and install capability for end users. Anything other than that, it is impossible to catch up with windows.
- Tux42, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1@hammerattack
I have yet to see ANY study that is funded by Microsoft that says ANYTHING good about Linux. I HAVE seen an article from a Linux fan that admitted that the results of his study concluded that Windows was better than the distribution of Linux he chose. I believe this is why people see Microsoft funded studies as "propaganda". Personally if I saw something as simple as Microsoft stating that a Linux box could be used as a customizable firewall for a Windows network, that might help convince that the studies are fair. Unfortunately, I have yet to see anything like that. Furthermore, I do not trust the "Get the facts" camping. Microsoft had to remove a number of the "studies" from the site because the studies were misleading or inaccurate.
Lastly, in a random survey, the results technically only apply to the sample amount, not to the group as a whole. Saying that since sample results show a higher migration to Windows indicates a trend in the industry as a whole is fallacious. I believe the fallacy is called "Hasty Generalization".
Here is an example.
Lets say I invented some wonder drug and after consulting some doctors about the drug I conclude that 4 out of 5 doctors recommend said drug. So how many doctors recommended the drug? One might think that 80% of doctors approve the drug when in realty that is not the case. In this scenario I could have just asked 5 doctors.
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