TheStreet.com: Linux Nips at Microsoft’s Heels

“Reality check: Microsoft is not on the verge of getting swept
away by a Linux tsunami, as some open-source software enthusiasts
have suggested. But Linux is a small wave slowly building every
day, and threatens to dampen Microsoft’s higher-growth server
business.

“Analysts differ over when the Linux wave reaches a critical
crest, indicating that point has yet to arrive. But as it builds,
Linux is putting Microsoft on the defensive, forcing the world’s
largest software maker to cut prices and consequently threatening
margins.

“‘There’s an immediate threat [to Microsoft] right now in the
operating system space,’ says Scott Lundstrom, chief technology
officer at AMR Research. Linux is ‘going to force Microsoft to
spend more time on security and stability, and less time on adding
new features. That probably has the effect of slowing revenue
growth…'”

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