can Windows 7 be a Threat to Linux ? please read this article..
There's been a recent spate of predictions that Windows 7 will kill off the Linux desktop, especially on netbooks. My favorite title so far is Windows kicks Linux to the curb, which provides a nice visual. Well, I'm not actually going to disagree, at least as far as traditional desktop Linux and netbooks go.
But first, a question to drive a point home. Have you ever used a version of OpenOffice Cloud? Neither have I, because it doesn't exist. The closest you can come is to use Ulteo, a virtualized Linux provider service, started by a previous Mandriva founder -- then everything is running on a VM in the cloud including OpenOffice. If you want to go cloud, you have to use something like Google (GOOG) Docs. And isn't a netbook about the cloud?
Microsoft (MSFT) hasn't been sleeping while the cloud trend has been developing. A few months ago they announced they're extending Office to the browser, with lightweight versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote. And they also announced Azure, their vision of an OS for the cloud. Now, a Linux vendor could pray that a move from XP to Windows 7 on netbooks would mean a return to the days of high priced BOM-based sales (and thus an opportunity for Linux to compete more favorably again). But the reality is, Microsoft will charge whatever the market will bare for netbook platforms, and move the rest of the business to chase the after-market revenues that cloud computing offers. That's something very hard to compete with, for desktop Linux distros which often struggle to stay afloat. This was why I wrote the article about how to make the Linux desktop profitable. The reality is that, in my humble opinion, the Linux distros will never compete well with Windows on BOM-based sales.
So who is the one company who really gets cloud computing, has the infrastructure for it, and an interest in Linux? Google. My take is Windows 7 is a threat to the classic Linux desktop distros. And that Google is the future of the Linux desktop, with Android pushing up the food-chain, and many of Google's infrastructure bits pervading the desktop. Note to distros, belly up to Google...
Windows 7: The Linux Killer. Has a nice ring but not very smart. What qualifies as a dead Linux? Or, look at it the other way, what qualifies as a not dead Linux? People don't leave Windows and switch to Linux like they would from XP to Windows 7: The Linux Killer. Most of the time they are pretty fed up with Microsoft. Once they they make the switch some realizations begin to set in. Like the computer not slowing down. No AV software to grab a chunk of memory and drag on the CPU. A sensible way to Add/Remove software and update the system, the whole system and not just the operating system. All of these things and more did not exist in the in the expectations of the user because the only OS they ever knew was Windows and however good or bad Windows was, was normal. Now they experience a very different OS. Most of them never return to Windows and the ones that do need or want an application or game that won't run on Linux. That may keep some people from using Linux but it's not a flaw like the need for AV software. So Windows 7: The Linux Killer doesn't have much to make Linux users become Windows 7: The Linux Killer users. There are some features they don't want. Like being tied to Microsoft's upgrade cycle. Like being locked-in to proprietary software.
So I'm going to give you and Microsoft some advice I hope you ignore. Declaring Windows 7: The Linux Killer's mission as the death of Linux is about as dumb as declaring 200X The Year Of The Linux Desktop. At some point on Windows 7: The Linux Killers life cycle, it will be apparent that not only is Linux not dead, it's thriving. It may be dead on netbooks, although I doubt it, but it won't be dead on the servers or mobile devices or damn near anything that needs a cheap, customizable, license free operating system.
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aLL haiL Windows!