News

IDC Says Windows, Linux Expected to Grow

• By Scott Bekker
• August 09, 2000

A recent IDC report on client operating environments (COEs) and server operating environments (SOEs) says that Windows and Linux will eat bigger pieces of pie on both ends of the wire.

IDC (www.idc.com) broke down operating environments by client and server because it saw different phenomena between the markets. On the COE side, it expected Windows and Linux to grab larger shares for desktops, displacing increasingly marginal operating systems.

Apple Computer Corp.'s (www.apple.com) MacOS was the big question mark in the desktop survey. IDC expected MacOS to retain the same market share, but the upcoming release of OSX (pronounced "ten") raised a few questions. OSX is based off of the NextStep operating system and BSD, a flavor of open source Unix, and may push the platform into new markets.

Linux and Windows were also the horses to bet on on the server side. Windows 2000 is expected to displace some Unix and NetWare systems. Linux has experienced a 15.8 percent growth in licenses, and IDC expects Linux will grow similarly on the server side through 2004.

IDC used license shipments to evaluate operating system market share - perhaps a misleading rubric. Since Linux is freely distributed , there may be a greater share than reported, particularly on the client side.

The full report can be found at http://www.idc.com/itforecaster/itf20000808.stm. - Christopher McConnell