There are technical and business advantages and disadvantages for both operating-system environments. Neither server system will consume the other. Both will coexist. The big question currently confronting corporate users is whether harmonious heterogeneity is possible.

It had better be. If it is not forthcoming, everyone -- corporate end users and vendors alike -- stands to lose.

Here's where things stand now: Microsoft 's Windows commands 65 to 70 percent of the server operating system market, while the Linux share stands at 15 to 20 percent. Currently, Linux server shipments represent the fastest-growing segment of the market.

No Basis for Mass Switch

Yankee Group recently completed an extensive total cost of ownership (TCO) comparison report in which it polled 500 North American corporations on their use of Windows and Linux. The high-level findings show that there is no universal clear-cut TCO basis to compel the corporate masses to do a wholesale switch from Windows to Linux as there is for a migration from Unix to Linux. And there is no indication that users are replacing Windows with Linux.

The majority of wholesale defections to Linux continues to come at the expense of midrange Unix installations, although many organizations are installing Linux as an OS that is complementary to existing Windows servers. Nearly two-thirds of Windows environments now have Linux or some other open-source distribution present in their environments. This trend will continue.

The report also indicates that businesses continue to expand the ways they use Linux. More than 50 percent of corporations now use Linux as multipurpose servers to perform several functions, including serving Web pages, e-mail and applications.

But, contrary to what the headlines would have us believe, the biggest threat to Microsoft's continued dominance, at present, is not Linux. It is older versions of Windows. The biggest threat to Linux is not Microsoft, but rather integration and interoperability issues among the various Linux and open-source distributions and applications. The lack of enterprise -level application support and documentation for the aforementioned software packages also is an issue.

Energy and Enthusiasm

Pragmatism -- not misguided passion -- should decide whether Linux, Windows, Unix or any combination of the three is the best solution for an individual organization. (continued...)

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