Linux Solutions

The release of Linux XP 2008 has highlighted an interesting opportunity for the open source code which might see it eventually crack the mass market after a number of false starts. Linux XP 2008 offers an interesting backdrop to Windows XP and gives users the opportunity to use what is fast being recognised as a more flexible and user friendly system. But can it work in the long term?

While this is probably one of the areas of Linux which has annoyed Microsoft, the Linux system allows information to be converted from Microsoft Windows XP and used within their own add-on operating system. Even though there are no legal issues with these methods (they are used throughout the industry) it does show how Linux may well be able to benefit from the association with Windows XP in order to increase the profile of Linux XP in the mass market.

Many people seem to forget that Linux is already used to great success in a number of highly visible, highly commercial ventures such as the Playstation to name but one. However, the majority of people who are actually using a Linux based system are unlikely to be aware of the fact with very little promotion of the name. It would be interesting if the Linux Foundation were able to arrange some kind of deal to make the name more visible, but why would you wish to deflect attention to the operating system if you had invested hundreds of millions of dollars into your product, as Sony have into the PlayStation brand.

Linux has long suffered from a lack of market penetration in the mass market, due mainly to the problems associated with lack of direct marketing and the fragmentation of the open source community – something which can work for and against an open source system. However, having secured a reasonable share of the server market, Linux seems very much set for the next stage, whatever that may be!