Microsoft turns humble…admits Linux is a winner!

dx0r515t · 04-27-2005, 01:12 PM

Quote:

Would you believe Jim Allchin, Microsoft's group vice presidents in charge of platforms admitting that Linux is a winner? You should as those are his words spoken at a recent interview. The tone at Microsoft has changed dramatically and now Microsoft is making an attempt to paint itself as an underdog!

http://www.infoworld.com/article/05/...openent_1.html

samael26 · 05-04-2005, 08:32 AM

On the server side, yes. Though it's good to see them humbled a bit, they still

pretend they get the whole desktop market (and they're right, but who cares, here) ?

I think the journalist should refrain from telling people to buy Windows, don't you ?

BugEyedMonkey · 05-05-2005, 09:53 AM

Quote:

According to Allchin, most customers who buy a new computer outfitted with Linux instead of Windows are doing it solely as a cost-cutting measure. They avoid the Windows license fee at the cash register when they ask for systems with Linux preinstalled. Once they get the hardware home, however, that Linux OS is quickly erased and replaced with a pirated copy of Windows -- often within 24 hours.

I found it hard to believe that people are buying Linux machines only to avoid paying extra for Windows. I mean yeah there are going to be a few people that do it, but I dont think it is the only reason they are.

So, I did some searching, and I found four comparable machines (2 Linux pre-installed and 2 Windows pre-installed) from two different vendors and the Linux pre-installed were more expensive than the the Windows pre-installed by around $200 to $400. Granted the sample is very small, but I am to lazy to continue looking for more examples. Plus I do not want to be too tempted to purchase another machine.

I also would like to know how they know that people are "flipping" the OS's within 24 hours. Are they running a phone survey to new PC owners?

As far as the servers go, yeah MS is pretty much screwed.

leadazide · 05-05-2005, 02:30 PM

Here in Germany/Th?ringen, it's hard to find a PC, and even harder to find a laptop without that evil OS preinstalled. I've asked many times and in many stores, and I got the only reply: "No, you can't buy a computer without Windows."
So, if anyone says about "flipping" OSs, then only in the other direction

EDIT: Doesn't this vBulletin support Unicode?

pevelius · 05-06-2005, 12:36 PM

I bought a computer for me and another for my friend with Linux preinstalled. But i didn´t use them at all, instead i took an install CD and installed other linux. So, does this count?
btw, they were cheapest machines available.

slackist · 05-07-2005, 05:35 AM

Here in Thailand machines with Linux pre-installed are very common.

Unfortunately so is pirated software so in most cases the Linux machines get converted to Windows as soon as they get home.