“DCS Server will appeal to those who have already invested in
SQL database and want to upgrade to enterprise standard. It will
also be used by those corporates who are determined to roll out
Windows 2000 and ActiveDirectory on a truly Enterprise scale,
although, interestingly enough, even these are waiting for the
third or fourth Windows 2000 service pack releases at least before
committing to roll-out. But the traditional Wintel buyer, those
looking for something that provided better service and better
functionality at a price that made cutting over from what was
previously in place cost-effective, would do well to look at the
other competitor in the x86 arena, Linux.”
“Linux is already set to produce a 64bit operating system way in
advance of Microsoft. This won’t particularly impress the
corporates, who will be prepared to look at their skills-base and
wait for the solution that fits. However, the open source nature of
Linux may cut significant hire costs of the specialist consultants
and engineers needed to make the solution work – and if you add in
the disparity between the two models’ licence fees…”
“It’s difficult to think of Microsoft these days as an underdog.
It has built itself a colossal empire, often using methods as
ethically questionable as those used by the Egyptians for their
tombs. In common with these structures, Microsoft may dominate the
near horizon, but one cannot help see that the tip of their service
pyramid falls way, way short of the clouds.”