Sam Varghese
Wednesday, 02 December 2009 15:53
Opinion and Analysis
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Google's moves to try and confront Microsoft in the operating systems arena notwithstanding, the Redmond giant is unlikely to face a threat to its dominance on the desktop in 2010.
There are many reasons why I think Microsoft can rest secure in its lair next year and continue to rake in the moolah from sales of Windows.
The main reason is the success of Windows 7 - in fact, the fight for OS marketshare now seems to be more of a tussle between Windows XP and Windows 7 rather than a tilt between any of the outsiders (read OSX, GNU/Linux or any of the fringe competitors) and the offerings from Gates & Co.
Once an operating system is accepted - and Windows 7 looks to have gone down well with the majority of those who have given it a go - then it is easy for Microsoft to continue to hold customers in its icy grip.
Home users are likely to switch to Windows 7 from XP once there is sufficient evidence that both systems share something of the same stability. The term stability, when applied to Windows, is, of course, relative.
I reckon this will happen in large numbers once the first service pack is out. And that should be around mid-year.
GNU/Linux and OSX devotees should stop, take a deep breath and consider the reality: your operating systems may be superior in many ways, but just how many people are willing to give up the familiarity of what they use in order to benefit in ways that they do not understand?
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