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Technology Stocks : How high will Microsoft fly? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Lizzie Tudor who wrote (19947)	4/7/1999 4:16:00 PM
From: RTev	Respond to of 74651

Cheryl will answer it well, but until she gets here, here are a few web pages that might shed light: A one-paragraph history and list of some Unixen: wombat.doc.ic.ac.uk On Linux specifically: wombat.doc.ic.ac.uk Their brief remarks on Solaris: wombat.doc.ic.ac.uk And, for comparison, what they say about NT: wombat.doc.ic.ac.uk

To: Lizzie Tudor who wrote (19947)	4/7/1999 4:25:00 PM
From: cheryl williamson	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 74651

Michelle, Linux is a BSD-lookalike with its own flavor. Solaris is based on System V Unix (SVR4). Solaris is designed to operate in high-powered enterprise & internet markets where there are requirements for high-speed/high-volume data processing, with RAS, and security. Solaris scales from 2-64 SMP's with a relatively flat response. This makes it a good choice for middle-to-high-end servers and workstations. However, it runs equally well on low-end servers (for the intranet) and workstations (like the Ultra 5 & 10). What Solaris lacks are personal productivity applications, the kind that normally run on PC's and seem to be so popular in the front office. Linux is well-suited for this market. I can see Linux as an NT-alternative, and in some cases a Solaris alternative in the low-end enterprise market. Linux, in my opinion, has an excellent future ahead of it as long as it has the apps to sell it in the desktop market. Since it is far superior to NT as an O/S, and MUCH cheaper to purchase and maintain, corporate IT managers will see it as a credible alternative to MSFT, if it supports their apps and doesn't require a lot of re-training to use. This is do-able, and we'll have to see if companies like Red-Hat can deliver the goods. If they can, NT is in serious trouble. IBM & SUNW have a number of projects in Java they are co- producing, but I can't see big blue selling Solaris to its customers who are now using AIX. Lou Gerstener (CEO) has said, recently, that the era of the PC is over, and that IBM will be re-doubling its efforts toward the internet and use its manufacturing capacity in PC parts to be a primary supplier for DELL etal. I really don't know what IBM is doing with Linux. I do know that DELL has recently announced that they will be shipping Linux pre-installed with their PCs. BTW: SUNW supports Linux and will sell you a workstation or server with Linux on it, if you want it, rather than Solaris. cherylw