Re: NT versus UNIX
My experience in the Web marketplace is that NT is gaining ground in low to medium end solutions, mostly by companies that are price sensitive or want to standardize on Windows.
The problem with NT, apart from its relative instability, is that it doesn't scale well. A lot of companies that try to use NT in high-end solutions have gotten burned.
The best example of this is the Microsoft site as compared with the Netscape site. Whenever either of them comes out with a new major release of their browser, their sites get inundated with traffic. The Microsoft site, which of course uses NT, frequently locks up or becomes inaccessible; they've had to use a two-part download process where you download a module that downloads the actual browser from a third-party site. Even with that measure, they still can't serve quickly enough. Netscape's site, which uses SGI servers, is able to handle even the highest traffic--traffic that in the past has been higher than Microsoft's.
If Microsoft, with its infinite resources, can't build a scaleable site using NT servers, you can be sure no one else can.
So this probably corroborates both Alomex as well as the others. Alomex is correct in his assertion that NT has been gaining ground in small to medium size businesses, while Unix has stood firm in large businesses/uses.
Incidentally, I read an article once that talked about the misleading nature of NT vs. Unix statistics. Often the pro-NT side quotes the growth rate of the platform. Since NT has such a small installed base, its growth rate is extremely high compared with Unix. But that is a very misleading figure. Nor is it even fair to compare numbers of boxes shipped, because Unix is usually part of a larger-scale implementation. The only fair point of comparison is dollar-value purchases made in a given period.
That said, NT has been doing very well. It's been a good catalyst for the Unix vendors, and it will be interesting to see how Rhapsody does. It's pretty clear that Apple has targeted the enterprise as its biggest growth opportunity. Any announcements concerning a deeper partnership with Oracle or Jim Cannavino as CEO will further corroborate this.
On another topic:
All of this is encapsulated in the meme: An internet discussion that includes the word Nazi has outlived its usefulness.
Couldn't agree with you more. I've noticed this too, and not just about Internet arguments: any argument that invokes Hitler as a point of comparison isn't worth participating in, and whoever invokes him has run out of argumentative steam.
rhet0ric |
