"When it comes to competition between operating systems, a platform is ultimately only as useful as its applications. For businesses that use Linux servers for their back-end operations--a category now growing by double-digits quarterly according to IDC--availability of applications is often the most significant bottleneck.
"As a result, some organizations find themselves in the uncomfortable position of needing to support two back-end platforms: Linux for the majority of network applications, like Web servers, file servers, e-mail and messaging servers and CRM servers, and Windows for anything else necessary but unavailable for Linux.
"For a lot of small-to-medium-sized business, the holdout has been Quickbooks Enterprise Solutions. Despite its 'Enterprise' name, Intuit has aimed the product at businesses ranging from 50 to 250 people. For many businesses, this accounting server is now the de facto standard for financial organization, but it has been available only for Windows.
"But no longer--now you can buy Quickbooks Enterprise Solutions for Linux. Well, with limits..."
