“Then there’s what may turn out to be the most formidable
rival–Linux. It suffers from being new and untested. The knowledge
gap is its biggest enemy. Indeed, Linux 2.2.0, which in PC Week’s
review earned high marks for capability, performance,
interoperability and manageability, suffers from poor usability.
“Linux is still ugly and difficult to install, but, boy, is it
fast,” PC Week Senior Technical Analyst Pankaj Chowdhry wrote in
the Labs’-Eye View accompanying the review. Chowdhry also said it
will be a year or more before enough applications will be available
to determine if Linux is ready for prime time. That gives Microsoft
some breathing room.”
“Discounting NT customers’ defections does not mean that delays
don’t make life difficult. It’s very hard to plan in the shifting
sands of a gelatinous shipping schedule. But as Microsoft President
Steve Ballmer says in a recent Q&A, the goal is shipping the
“best possible products.” I interpret that to mean the “best
possible product under the circumstances,” which could dictate that
the product be shipped–and soon.”