Posted on 12/22/2005 10:54:08 AM PST by HAL9000
Yes, let's hope so - but in the USA, I don't expect that Linux will ever catch up with Mac OS X in quality or the number of users.
The interesting question is whether Apple will pass Microsoft. Apple has tremendous upward momentum, and Microsoft has been stagnant for several years. If the current rates are sustained, Apple's market capitalization will pass Microsoft's in a couple of years.
ping
The viability of Linux on the descktop for the masses is virtually nill.
The bulk of the great unwashed probably find Windows too confusing to begin with, much less Linux.
It might be Ok as server software, but in that case the only real plus it offers compared with any flavor of Unix is it's initial price. And most of the "big iron" guys I've dealt with would never consider risking their jobs on open source code with no support.
"If the current rates are sustained, Apple's market capitalization will pass Microsoft's in a couple of years."
That's a big "if", and a big "couple".
Doesn't the Mac have single digit market right now?
Ping
Currently, for desktop PCs, their market share is probably in single digits. For laptops, they may have a higher market share. For media devices like the iPod, Apple has a very high share. But market share doesn't tell the whole story. The 'installed base' share for Apple is higher than their market share because Macs typically have a longer lifespan than PCs and aren't replaced as frequently.
I think Apple will gain some share in the traditional desktop market. The new iMac is close to perfection as a desktop computer.
In the future, home PCs will be moving to the living room, attached to HDTV sets. Apple is well-positioned for growth that market.
Linux is a kernel, not an operating system.
In my opinion these articles are always based on a false assumption. That assumption is that the choice is something like "Mac OR Linux", or "Windows OR Linux".
In today's world of cheap hardware and easy networking, it's easy to see that this is almost always not the way it is.
It's often "all of the above" or for that matter throw in mobile devices of all flavors and probably some platforms that I can't think of just now.
No doubt OS X has won over many users, but it's a fallacy to think that they tossed all their other machines in the trash.
"For media devices like the iPod, Apple has a very high share."
I'm not very up on current gadgetry like the iPod. They don't use OSX in that, do they? I would imagine that would run some highly simplified (ie. stripped down) embedded OS.
The iPod has a proprietary OS - and it can operate as an external disk drive for a PC. There is some talk that Apple could include Mac OS X on the iPod, which PC users could attach and boot up from.
"Open source=no support" is a completely false notion. Look at IBM.
>>>The interesting question is whether Apple will pass Microsoft.<<<
They could if they'd let their intel-compatible OS X be sold "over the counter" as a boxed software item rather than limiting it to mostly proprietary hardware.
ping
heh. Our company's entire product line is based on open source, and we're the leader in our particular industry. No one even comes close.
"Open source=no support" is a completely false notion. Look at IBM"
What about IBM? Do they sell support for Linux? If so, does it end up being much (or any) cheaper than Unix?
What's the industry?
Protocol conversion
So, Gateway, Router firmware, stuff like that?
Stuff like that, yeah.
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