Open source developers embrace in mass Google's Cloud-based offerings, while steering clear of what Microsoft has to offer. The face-off between Microsoft and Google has put the two companies in the position of making inroads into each other's traditional territory. While Google is moving onto the desktop with offerings such as the Chrome browser, Microsoft is reaching into the Cloud with solutions including the Windows Azure operating system. However, when it comes down to open source developers embracing the Cloud solution, a study put together by Evans Data indicates that Google has gained the upper hand compared with Microsoft.

The latest Evans Data Open Source Development survey indicates that no less than 40% of devs building open source projects will use Cloud providers in order to offer customers their applications via a browser as service. In this regard, Google, adept of the Software as Service business strategy, is preferred by the vast majority of open source developers, thanks to the Google App Engine, with no less than 28% of them adhering to the solution. Following Google is Amazon.com, with 15%, while Microsoft (with Software plus Services offerings) and IBM are “not nearly as popular.”

“As costs increase for power, staff and data center resources, more businesses are being attracted to the latest promise: moving more of the company’s infrastructure and applications into a third-party provided cloud,” John Andrews, President and CEO of Evans Data Corp, stated. “Many companies are using this model to not only reduce infrastructure costs but simultaneously increase their computational capabilities.”

The study performed by Evans Data involved 360 developers, which also indicated that they were virtualizing the Linux operating system (52%), and that they preferred MySQL over rival database platforms, with one in five developers turning to the Flex programming language from time to time. Fact is that the conclusions of Evans Data's study indicate that, at least within the open source developer community, Microsoft continues to be perceived as an exponent of desktop software, and not as a valid provider of SaS.