A Linux market of less than 1% in small and medium-sized enterprises will become the main battlefield of the operating system.

According to a new report published by Yangji group on Monday, the popularity of Linux in enterprises with no more than 500 employees is very low, less than 1% of desktops in such enterprises are running Linux.

However, this situation will change as enterprises start to update outdated software devices. According to the report, 3%-5% of the small enterprises surveyed will run Linux on most PCs in the next 6-12 months. A year later, this number may rise to 4%-10%. Enterprises with no more than 20 employees are particularly interested in Linux. The report says Linux will grow steadily in the small business desktop market in the next few years.

According to the report, SMEs always try to extend the resource usage time. Although the new version of Windows monopolized the desktop market, small enterprises are still insisting on using the old version of Windows. Windows XP only accounts for 46% of enterprises, while Windows 98 and Windows 95 accounts for 25% and 2% respectively.

Most enterprises that plan to use the old Windows version in the next 12 months will upgrade to Windows XP. Among them, the proportion of small enterprises planned to be upgraded is 70%, but the proportion of enterprises with no more than 20 employees is only 57%.

The report calls high-tech companies to pay high attention to the small business market with fewer than 20 employees, because the Linux-Windows war will start from here at the earliest, in the next 12 months or longer, small businesses are very interested in deploying Linux desktops. Traditionally, low-end small enterprises are more cost-sensitive, and many customers will choose low-cost products after evaluating the price-value ratio risk.

In addition to being price-sensitive, such small enterprises have simpler technical needs, said Helen, an analyst at the Yangji group. This prevents integration issues during the transition to Linux. She said that since small enterprises do not need to use a large number of applications, the cost of turning to Linux is very small. Moreover, the current Linux application software can meet the demand of small enterprises for less dependent applications.

From: Ji shi Network