“Ask Doug Miller. His No. 1 job is watching the competitive
landscape. …Miller is a rarity–a top manager who knows both the
Unix and Windows NT/2000 worlds. Today, his most important job is
keeping tabs on Windows 2000’s competitors: Unix (especially
Solaris), Linux, NetWare, and IBM’s midrange and mainframe
operating systems.”
“Predictably, Linux is Microsoft’s primary concern. The
company is “seeing more and more Linux in the low-end Intel
space,” says Miller. But, “you can do anything with W2K that
you can do with Linux, and much more. We don’t see this as a
technical battle. They need to catch up. They still need integrated
directory, security and Web services.”
“…he says, “Linux is still focused on cool technology rather
than customer-based needs. And the customer needs come first with
Microsoft and Windows 2000.” Despite Linux’s low cost, Miller says
Win2000 holds the upper hand. “At the low end, you still need to
look at all of the cost involved: training users, ease of use,
deployment costs and how quickly you can deploy your applications,”
he says. “For simple tasks, Linux appears to do a good,
cost-effective job. We see W2K as better, though, because you can
move up to bigger services.”