Linux challenges the authority of the Microsoft Desktop Market

Industry analysts said that if the Linux system can overcome interconnectivity, it will further threaten Microsoft's monopoly in the desktop and laptop markets, and this is only a matter of time.

Warren shiau, director of software research from IDCs, said that although Linux does not have enough strength to challenge Microsoft's position in the desktop market, everything is moving towards a more favorable position for Linux, there are also indications that Linux has the potential to pose a real threat to Microsoft in the future.

Shiau commented after Hewlett-Packard released its new laptop, which is pre-installed with Novell's SuSE Linux system, other vendors are expected to follow up in the following months.

Evan leibovitch, president of the Linux International Association, said this was a milestone in the history of Linux development. Linux still has a long way to go before it challenged Microsoft to occupy 95 percent of the desktop market, but there are signs that everything is happening.

IDC has long observed that Linux's share in the desktop market has exceeded Apple's Macintosh operating system.

Insiders pointed out that several companies have successfully developed Linux systems for non-technical users, including Xandros from New York, which is now developing desktop operating systems based on Linux technology.

However, Linux will face many challenges. There are still many problems with Linux operating systems from different vendors.

At present, the desktop market already has multiple versions of Linux operating systems competing with Microsoft's Windows system. One of these versions originally originated from Corel in Ottawa, which later sold the Linux Desktop System to Xandros in New York. The Desktop Linux System of RedHat software has been launched for some time. At the beginning of this month, Kde also released the 3.3 Linux desktop operating system.

Analyst shiau said that Microsoft could not obtain its monopoly today if there are 100 different versions of Windows operating systems that are incompatible with each other.

However, some analysts insist that Linux does not have any so-called interoperability problems, and it does not have the "break" problem of the version itself as Unix does.

Although Shiau believes that there are interoperability problems between Linux systems of different versions, he believes that these problems can be solved by Linux vendors such as Novell.

Novell recently announced that it will release a new Enterprise Linux operating system this fall. Industry analysts said the version includes management, application software, and operating systems.

From: Skynet