14 DAY TRIAL // South Korea is one of the countries that are planning a mass migration from Windows to Linux, with local authorities putting together a plan that would see local experts trying out an open-source operating system in the coming years, before eventually moving all government PCs to such software.
There’s no the doubt that the South Korean government truly believes in the power of example and hopes that once it makes the move to Linux and gives up on Windows completely, everyone in the country would do the same thing and pick the more affordable platform as their next destination.
Statistics, however, seem to give no chance to such an ambitious plan, with market share figures clearly pointing out that Windows was, is, and will probably remain so for many years from now the dominant operating system in the country.
At this point, Windows 7 is installed on 78.28 percent of the desktop computers in China, while Windows XP, an operating system which no longer receives updates and patches from Microsoft, is still powering 10.29 percent of these PCs.
Both Windows 8 and 8.1 are far behind, but it’s more important to note that Linux is nowhere to be seen in these statistics, which most likely means that the open-source alternative is far from achieving a 1 percent market share in the country.
Since many of the users in the country haven’t even heard about Linux, it’s hard to believe that the government can convince the majority to at least give it a shot.
As you can see for yourselves in the above chart, Windows 7 has continuously increased its market share in the last 12 months and is very likely to do the same thing in the coming months as more users are completing the transition from Windows XP.
Microsoft is also trying to make sure that no one gives up on Windows, planning not only a new update for Windows 8.1, but also a completely new version that could come in early 2015.
Of course, if South Korea indeed decides to go on with its plan to switch to Linux, it all depends on how Microsoft is answering, as Redmond clearly has its very own strategy that could convince many to change their minds. Windows 9 is just one of the key products prepared by Microsoft on the short term, as all its other services are very likely to receive a makeover when the new operating system gets to see daylight.