14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft is gearing up to release Windows 8, the next major version of Windows, and there’s already good news for the successor of Windows 7, namely the fact that the list of competitors is now one OS short. In the latest SEC filing for its annual report, the Redmond company reveals that it no longer considers the open source Linux platform, with its countless distributions, a Windows rival.
The change was first noticed by Directions on Microsoft's Wes Miller, who posted a tweet about Microsoft’s new view on Linux.
“The Windows operating system faces competition from various commercial software products offered by well-established companies, mainly Apple and Google. The Windows operating system also faces competition from alternative platforms and devices that may reduce demand for PCs. User and usage volumes on mobile devices are increasing worldwide relative to the PC,”
“We believe Windows competes effectively by giving customers choice, flexibility, security, a familiar and easy-to-use interface, compatibility with a broad range of hardware and software applications, and the largest support network for any operating system.
Linux is notably absent from the already short list of Windows competitors, although it has been applauded time and again by many as a Windows-killer.
Here is what Microsoft used to say in such reports:
“The Windows operating system faces competition from various commercial software products offered by well-established companies, including Apple and Google, and from the Linux operating system. Linux is derived from Unix and is available without payment under a General Public License. Partners such as Hewlett-Packard and Intel have been actively working with alternative Linux-based operating systems.”
How times have changed! But before I start getting comments about how Chrome OS and Android actually have Linux at the core while Mac OS ‘s UNIX heart is beating hard, believe me, I’m already well aware of this.
But I also argue that Android / Chrome OS and OS X are not one and the same as Linux and respectively UNIX, are they? In fact, I really doubt that OS X and Android would have been so successful if they would have been just UNIX and Linux (there’s no Chrome OS success to talk about yet).
Think about it this way. Ubuntu was a pure Linux distribution. But even despite partnerships with major OEMs to ship it preloaded on new machines, just as Windows, it failed to gain traction. OS X and Android are only based on UNIX and respectively Linux, but in fact they’re two very different platforms.
Ignoring server distros of the open source platform, Linux’s market share has been stagnant at best. It does enjoy the support of a very strong community, but one that has failed to attract new members en masse. Could this change in the future? I really doubt it.