Computerworld let Eric Lai cut an article titled: “Microsoft targets Linux, IBM with Windows Server for really small biz“. After reading the article I suspect Microsoft is using a BB Gun.
Essentially the article reads as though Microsoft has unleashed a killer OS for use by really small businesses called Windows Server 2008 Foundation. The product permits up to 15 users and comes without additional software. So, if you want to use it, you’ll need to buy a little bit more software to create your solution.
Still chuckling…
My favorite part was;
- In a blog, Bilal Jaffery, a marketing manager for IBM Lotus Foundations, called the new rival product from Microsoft “a strategy to improve the [Microsoft] short term bottom line as it provides nothing new to the market … That only results in my business partners being able to close more deals by providing more credibility to the Linux revolution.”
Bilal hit it right on the head. This is a ploy to increase MS’s bottom -line. The reality is, they’ve ignored small (really small) businesses for a very long time. This has allowed Linux to squeeze into the small business space by necessity (the mother of invention) and lack of support.
I have to believe that MS will lose this battle. For most people that have made the switch to Linux, once they have a “handle on it” they won’t go back. Really who wants to use a stripped-down Windows Server limited to 15 users, when Linux is a free – enterprise quality OS that has no such limitation?
Perhaps MS should explore other areas they once deemed unprofitable for additional revenue sources.
