Well, it seems to me that the competition in the Unix market is HWP, IBM, DEC, SGI, SCO, and Linux. There are issues with each of those others. HWP sent some signals that suggested they were abandoning Unix for Wintel, but are furiously trying to undo that perception; it seems like half of the advertising in ComputerWorld is multi-page HP ads proclaiming how serious they are about Unix; I think they're Sun's strongest competition. I don't think IBM has traditionally been very aggressive about Unix, but they're so big they can't be ignored. DEC tried to be NT, VMS, and Unix all at once, and I don't think that played very well -- now there's even more uncertainty due to the Intel settlement (sale of Alpha fab, plus FTC mucking up the deal so that Intel can't use it to make Alpha's, last I heard) and the CPQ takeover. SGI is wounded badly, IMHO, and seems to be moving towards NT in desperation. I think SCO has volume sales, but doesn't work on "big iron." Linux is interesting, but a lot of people shy away from it because of concerns over support.
However nobody, IMHO, has SMP figured out as well as Sun.
All JMHO, of course. |
