“Windows 2000 is challenged on several fronts, including
competition from well-established operating systems; missing the
Y2K switchover; challenges in implementation; and the business
world’s tendency to take their own sweet time in moving to new
platforms.
Analysts believe that Microsoft is about two years late with
its corporate platform. In that time, Linux and Sun’s Solaris
operating systems have gained wider acceptance. The Unix
operating system is showing signs of surviving the Intel-based OS
threat, thanks to its robustness in e-business applications and
Intel versions from such vendors as The Santa Cruz Operation Co.
Finally, many businesses made platform changes when making their
systems Y2K compliant.
Cost could be another issue. Linux is, after all, free (before
you figure in value-added services that go with implementing any
OS). Giga Information Group of Norwell, Mass., estimates that a
30-server/5,000-workstation company would spend roughly $5.4
million to get Windows 2000 running enterprisewide.”