Network services giant AT&T is evaluating different operating systems, including Linux and Mac OS X, as alternatives to Windows for internal use.
The company's chief information officer, Hossein Eslambolchi, has set up a team in AT&T's research labs to assess the appropriateness of desktop operating systems for the company, AT&T spokesman Michael Dickman said Thursday. The company currently uses Windows on its desktop PCs, which number in the tens of thousands.
The engineers are testing and measuring how Windows, Linux and Mac OS X stack up on security, reliability and total cost of ownership, Dickman said. The CIO is also the company's chief technology officer and is responsible for AT&T's research and development.
AT&T expects to make a decision on the merits of the desktop operating systems by the end of next year or early 2006.
Most likely, AT&T will stick with Windows, because Microsoft is addressing many of problems associated with its desktop software, including security flaws that leave it particularly vulnerable to viruses, Dickman said. But increasingly, corporate customers have more choices for desktop software, he noted.
"There's competition; there's choice now," Dickman said. "Any CIO would not be doing due diligence if they are not looking at their options now."
AT&T is not actively seeking to replace Windows, Dickman said. But the company's decision to thoroughly evaluate Mac OS X and Linux, along with Windows, for widespread corporate use underscores the improvements in Windows alternatives.
Linux, in particular, has become a more viable option for a desktop operating system, according to analysts. Vendors such as Novell and Sun Microsystems are actively trying to build open-source desktop software businesses catering to corporations.
Use of Linux on desktops is minimal in business right now, according to analysts, but there is growing interest in it. IBM earlier this year launched its own internal project to evaluate Linux for desktop computers. Also, a number of governmental organizations are pursuing open-source options to Microsoft dominance in desktop software.
Researchers at The Yankee Group last month published a report predicting that small businesses will drive adoption of Linux on desktops. In a survey, they found that 4 percent to 10 percent of small companies expect to have Linux PCs one year from now.
"Too little, too late from Microsoft" and "Increasing risks of using Windows" means that more people will give serious consideration to changing operating systems.
This is not just inevitable, it's good business sense.
It was just matter of time that many companies are looking into a better OS. M$ will soon feel the blows to their pocketbook. Who's falt is that you may ask? It's nobodies but Bill Gates and his top misfits. What funny is that M$ is not really worry about it. They think the path that they have took will put them back on top. Someone there needs to wake up and smell the coffee at M$. M$'s world is falling apart.
For the near term (think the lifetimes of the next few major releases of Windows), this is all mostly "business tactics". As a large corporate buyer who wants to cut costs, I threaten my incumbent OS provider that I am going to replace their OS because it's too expensive to own. Incumbent OS provider responds, "really? How much would I have to discount in order to keep you as a customer?" The discounts are arranged and everything stays the same.
Will it hurt MicroSoft? Yes, they won't be able to pull the huge margins they once were. Will it cut down on overall deployment? Probably not so much that it hurts them financially nearly as much as the reduced margins will.
It really is not based on Unix, it seeks Posix compliance. It does have some Unix code in the back end to meet this goal. That has made the Mac server line much more powerful than we've seen in the past from Apple in the server market.
"Damn. I'm not making several billion dollars a year off the performance of my company. I have to make due with my billions in personal net worth and the financial returns on all of my personal investments. Whatever shall I do? I am going to be a pauper."
...most of these companies that are "investigating Linux" or other OSes are only doing so to try to milk MicroSoft for discounts and aren't really being done with an eye towards IT changes.
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Windows" means that more people will give serious
consideration to changing operating systems.
This is not just inevitable, it's good business sense.
Will it hurt MicroSoft? Yes, they won't be able to pull the huge margins they once were. Will it cut down on overall deployment? Probably not so much that it hurts them financially nearly as much as the reduced margins will.
-tom
-tom