Microsoft server software challenges Linux offerings

By Manek Dubash

May 31, 2005 12:00 PM ET

TechWorld.com - Windows is taking the server operating systems market by storm -- and Linux has no hope of catching it, according to market researcher IDC.

Its latest quarterly server survey found that income from sales of Microsoft Windows servers even matched enterprise Unix server revenues.

Linux servers posted their 11th consecutive quarter of double-digit growth, with year-over-year revenue growth of 35.2% and unit shipments up 31.1%. Enterprises are continuing to expand the role of data center-based Linux servers into an ever-broadening array of workloads with both commercial and technical workloads.

However, IDC also reported that Microsoft Windows servers also showed strong growth, as revenue and unit shipments grew 12.3% and 10.7%, respectively, year over year -- from a much larger installed base than that of Linux. Significantly, quarterly revenue of $4.2 billion for Windows servers represented 34.4% of overall quarterly factory revenue, pulling even with quarterly revenue in the Unix server market.

Windows Server 2003, DataCenter Server and Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition are all selling well, according to IDC's enterprise group chief, Jean S. Bozman.

Bozman also said that she could not see Linux overtaking either Windows or Unix in the foreseeable future, mainly because Linux is starting from such a small base. As a result, she could not project out far enough to see Linux overtaking either of the other two main operating systems.

So if IDC is to be believed, the world's favorite open-source operating system is destined to remain a niche product serving Web pages for the time being, while Microsoft makes hay with its core product. It has been a long time since this reporter was able to ask Microsoft representatives if they still believe that Microsoft will ever succeed in the enterprise. It looks like it now has.

Reprinted with permission from

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