billwg wrote:
> "Roy Schestowitz" <newsgroups@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
> news:3265834.RocyM65NVH@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> > According to Google Trends©
> >
> > http://www.google.com/trends?q=windows%2C+xp&ctab=0&date=all&geo=all
>
> But it is improving when compared to linux:
>
http://www.google.com/trends?q=windows%2C+xp%2C+linux&ctab=0&date=all&geo=all
>
Actually, this is a really interesting chart. Based on this, Linux is
now almost as 'active' as Windows XP
> You have to be able to interpret statistics as well as generate them,
> roy! That's where you always mess it up.
Linux has been pretty much flat, while Windows XP has been decreasing.
> The downward trend for Windows/XP inquiries is due simply to the
> ever-increasing popularity of Windows and continuing usage.
Probably true. People are not only quite familiar with Windows XP,
they are even BORED with it. Linux has been through something like 4
major upgrades since Windows XP came out in 2003. Microsoft has been
promising Longhorn/Vista almost immedately after, and the ship date has
slipped from January of 2005 to something like January of 2008? And
then we will have the service packs. It could be stable and ready for
the corporate market by 2009.
Meanwhile, Linux is evolving and growing more and more powerful. Linux
has full support for 64 bit processors, along with a full complement of
applications. Windows XP 64 is available, but not well supported by 64
bit applications.
By the time Vista is finally ready for 'Mass Market' (as opposed to
final beta or first GA), Windows XP-only machines will likely be
selling for less than a VCR, while Linux/Windows hybrid machines will
be selling for nearly $1,000 per machine for desktops and as much as
$2500/machine for laptops.
Sun showed of a nice GUI desktop, java powered, that did everything
Vista and OS/X Tiger does, and it works on Linux. Many of these new
features have been around in Linux (and X11) since X11R5 was released
in 1992.
> Thus, people have less need to inquire since they gain direct knowledge from
> usage. OTOH the increasing decline in interest for linux is due to a
> combination of people becoming more and more satisfied with Windows and
> discovering what a problem it would be to try to switch from Windows to
> linux.
That's one interpretation. The other is that Virtual Machines,
including Microsoft Virtual PC, and VMWare Player are now available for
free, making an installation of Linux almost as easy as installing
Project or Visio. Actually even easier. All one has to do is download
the image, double-click the VMX flie, within a few seconds, you have a
fully configured, fully functional Linux system. I guess one would
have to say that having a fully functional system is now easier than
OPENING an Project or Visio FILE!
Lots of software vendors are now offering 'appliances' powered by
Linux. They have a Linux kernel, some core Linux applications, and
their Linux application - often properly configured for limited, but
fully functional operation.
I really haven't been seeing that many Virtual PC images. VMWare
workstation does have a tool which converts Virtual PC images into
VMWare Player images.
Microsoft's biggest problem an the moment is denial. They are assuming
that just because OEMs are still purchasing Windows XP for machines
being sold to retailers and through normal distribution channels, that
no one is using Linux.
It reminds me of that time, around 1993-1994 when Novell was insisting
that it was the leading "Network OS', simply because they could say
that TCP/IP was only a protocol. When you define the market very
carefully, you can be the leader.
On the other hand, it may not really matter to Microsoft that hundreds
of millions of people are using Linux, since Microsoft sells hundreds
of millions of copies of Windows to OEMs and collects annual or monthly
"maintenance fees" from corporate customers on millions of additional
"seats".
Of course, there was that big shocker that Novell got when Mosaic
suddenly made it possible to uniquely identify a TCP/IP market nearly 4
times larger than Novell's biggest market. The even bigger shocker was
wen Mosaic, Eudora, and FTP were suddenly eliminating the nead for
traditional Netware IPX/SPX applications. Today, many people don't
even know what IPX/SPX is - even though Linux still supports it.
Hopefully the great Gulliver will continue to sleep. By the time he
finally does rise, he might actually be truly immobilized by the
Lilliputions..
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