14 DAY TRIAL // Windows and Linux are two products whose developers have never liked each other, even though it was pretty clear from the very beginning that Microsoft was in a position almost impossible to defeat.
Ever since Bill Gates pledged to bring a PC on every desktop, Windows grew up at an amazing pace, reaching a desktop market share of more than 90 percent. This means that 9 in 10 desktop computers were powered by Windows, which is nothing more than living proof that the entire world depended on Microsoft products.
Things haven't changed so much in the last few years, but as time passed by, users were provided with more alternatives to Windows, so power users started looking into some other operating systems as well, some of which were based on Linux.
That doesn't necessarily mean that the market share owned by Linux skyrocketed, but some sort of increase has anyway been experienced, confirming that some of those who actually tried an open-source Windows alternative actually liked it and decided to stay.
One of the most famous quotes belonging to the former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer described Linux as a “cancer.” Shocking, but Steve Ballmer actually said that, obviously in an attempt to emphasize just how good Windows actually was at that time.
“Linux is a cancer that attaches itself in an intellectual property sense to everything it touches. The way the license is written, if you use any open-source software, you have to make the rest of your software open source,” Ballmer said back in 2001.
As I said, things have changed too much as far as market share is concerned, but Microsoft's opinion towards Linux surely adopted a completely new direction.
Microsoft is no longer one of the companies that hate Linux for one simple reason that's actually defining its business these days.
Linux has what Windows doesn't.
Developers. One simple term that Microsoft has been obsessed with lately, but clearly a key focus right now at Redmond, especially because it wants to become more of a devices and services firm and less of a software company.
The idea behind Microsoft's new business concept is as simple as it could be: the company needs to get closer to developers in an attempt to bring more apps on Windows 8, Windows Phone and other platforms, help create Windows Azure applications, improve its products and design new technologies that would in the end boost its market share and build a bigger ecosystem with Microsoft at the core of everything.
The Linux community is undoubtedly very appealing for Microsoft and evolving from foes to friends is a priority right now, especially because open-source is now a concept that has its very own place on Windows.
In its struggle to get a larger slice of the open source cake, the new CEO Satya Nadella appointed a new chief that would lead the company's efforts worldwide to get in touch with open source developers. Mark Hill, who's been with Microsoft for more than 22 years, calls for open source devs to join Redmond's efforts and create new applications for Azure in a new strategy smartly projected against Google and Amazon.
Here's what he recently said in an interview:
“We have a group of individuals who are residents around the world who are open-source practitioners that we've recruited from the community. They are our subject matter experts, and they've been helping us engage -- and help Microsoft become more aware of that community... But given their healthy knowledge of open source and their connections, we're changing roles to try and make Microsoft more responsive and to make sure that we appeal to that community at large.
“We want make sure that we give (developers) the tools, training, and advice they'd need to run open-source tools on Azure. It's a great platform for them to build their business, and we want to give them everything they need to be successful.”
In fewer words, Microsoft has no other option than to get closer to Linux, not because more users are migrating to this platform, but because open-source is becoming a much more important concept in today's IT ecosystem.
As far as Windows and Linux are concerned, despite what critics and so-called experts say, Linux is still years away from becoming a real threat for Windows. It might have what it takes to compete with Windows, including apps, a user-friendly UI and better security, but destroying Microsoft's 90 percent market share on the desktop will take more time than any of us can wait.