“The X Window System’s network-based design provides some
powerful capabilities, as discussed in my last column. These
capabilities are not limited to Linux- and Unix-based systems but X
is not very common on other platforms.”
“The idea of having X client windows alongside windows from MS
Windows applications is very attractive, but I have yet to find an
X Window server for a Microsoft Windows platform that does what I
expect it to do. I’m sure that others have had great success, but
I’ve also heard from other people who have had the same
disappointments. And in any case, accessing Windows software from
an X system is normally out of the question.”
“X is also a bandwidth-hungry protocol, designed to run on 10
Mbps ethernet and faster transports; in its basic incarnation, it
does not work well on low-speed links such as 33.3 kbps modem
lines. Various attempts to address the bandwidth have been made,
none of which have been widely adopted.”