Companies continue to be persuaded away from Microsoft Windows and towards Linux and the Sun JavaTM Desktop System, according to a recent theglobeandmail.com article. Taking advantage of the familiar Windows look and feel that the Sun Java Desktop System sports, Mark Johnson, senior network and systems engineer for MDSI Mobile Data Solutions, is evaluating the Sun solution and contemplating an outright switch.

The Sun Java Desktop System, which bundles Linux with open-source productivity software and management tools, is a cheaper alternative to Windows. Johnson figures his company would see savings of about $1,500 a year per user in licensing fees if it made the switch. The company would also reduce the need for expensive hardware that new Microsoft upgrades frequently require.

The change Johnson is contemplating is a response Sun hears from customers on a regular basis. Peder Ulander, Sun's director of marketing for desktop solutions, explains, "Customers were saying, 'There's all this great open-source technology out there. We want to look at alternatives, but we're looking for someone who will integrate it and make it usable for our end users.'"

The rise of Red Hat Inc. as an independent open-source software vendor has even resulted in the release of a workstation version of its Red Hat Linux. That release gave corporate technology departments solid support for the desktop environment. However, it was the larger multinational vendors entering the scene that caused interest in the corporate Linux desktop to increase.

Johnson explains, "The other versions of Linux had no big name behind them. Red Hat is not really well known at a senior management level, though some of them may have read about it in computer magazines. To be [certain] of assuring [that] we're going to get quality, we wanted to pick a big name."

Still, the migration away from Windows on the desktop isn't going to take place overnight. Peder Ulander explains, "This is the year the technology has matured and become available for enterprises. It is also a year where you are going to see more pilots than actual deployments."

For more information, see:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com [...read more...]

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