There is a confluence of events happening that could mean the end of Microsoft's two and a half decade long stranglehold on the computer desktop. Microsoft Windows and Office applications have long been plagued by security holes. This has been, in my mind, largely due to their refusal to improve upon existing
products rather than being constantly obsessed with getting the newest, coolest application out the door. When you're a publicly traded corporation in need of daily press releases and new, shiny toys to show investors, it's easy to fall into this trap. Microsoft is a money-making machine first and a customer-focused software company second. Or maybe third or fourth.
In addition to the history of buggy, non-secure software, the company has become increasingly heavy handed in their attempts at monitoring and controlling the use of their products. From forced product activation to digital rights management (DRM) enforcement, Microsoft has been the subject of an increasingly loud outcry from its customers that the company has crossed the line.
Don't get me wrong. My stint working for Microsoft was one of the most rewarding of my career and I have a lot of fond memories from my time there. They've done for personal computing what Starbucks has done for coffee; almost singlehandedly created an entire industry. Microsoft is the sun around which an entire solar system of affiliated companies rotates and generates tens of thousands of jobs. But Microsoft has grown too big and has far too many mouths to feed and investors to placate—at the expense of its paying customers.
One of the events that will eventually unseat Microsoft as the dominant desktop operating system happened on October 20, 2004. It was on this day that the first release of Ubuntu, the most user-friendly version of Linux to date, came out.
Ubuntu is a widely used Linux distribution predominantly targeted at personal computers. Based on Debian GNU/Linux, Ubuntu concentrates on usability, regular releases, ease of installation, and freedom from legal restrictions.
- Wikipedia
I visited my brother in Seattle recently and he showed me his installation of Ubuntu. I was floored. I'm going to dump Microsoft Windows on every computer I own except my IBM ThinkPad where I'll run my work-related applications that require Windows XP. I could even do a dual boot with Ubuntu on that machine, but probably won't bother for now. Ubuntu is beautiful and it's secure.
The other event (that I'll mention here—there are certainly many more) that will humble Microsoft in short order hit the news today. An article in the New York Times entitled Group Formed to Support Linux as Rival to Windows reports an event that should have happened years ago:
Linux... has gone from an intriguing experiment to a mainstream technology..., helped by the backing of major technology companies like I.B.M., Intel and Hewlett-Packard, which sponsored industry consortiums to promote its adoption.
Those same companies have decided that the time has come to consolidate their collaborative support into a new group, the Linux Foundation, which is being announced today. And the mission of the new organization is help Linux... to compete more effectively against Microsoft, the world’s largest software company.
Microsoft has faced incredible odds many times before and surprised the marketplace by coming out ahead. But unless the companies and organizations that comprise the Linux Foundation completely screw up, Microsoft is in big trouble. And it's about time.
Group Formed to Support Linux as Rival to Windows | New York Times
Ubuntu Linux distribution | Wikipedia
Related post and inevitably long, interesting discussion on Slashdot
Technorati Tags: Linux, Microsoft, Microsoft Windows, Open Source, Microsoft Office, Ubuntu
You know about the Ubuntu Live in July here, right? email me if you want the O'Reilly speaker invite...
Posted by: vj | January 31, 2007 at 04:17 PM