> > So a Linux port which has a bigger installed base than Solaris or
> > HP-UX may make sense to them.
>
> Except that every Linux box, placed instead of Windows one, is a
> potential lost sale for NT, Office, Frontpage and IIS, that are their
> bread and butter. And, more important, those boxes, if used as servers,
> will continue to support standard HTTP, as opposed to their version of
> protocol that will be necessary for the market capture. IE domination
> helps promoting nonstandard protocol extensions while widespread use of
> non-Microsoft servers promote the standard protocol and partially negate
> the effect of IE being widespread on the client side. Getting one more
> Linux-only box with IE in NT-only environment creates one more potential
> non-Microsoft server, and thus doesn't serve IE's purpose well.
>
> --
> Alex
That is why I think that you are more likely to see Word for Linux or
Office for Linux than IE. Microsoft will actually make some money from
it. As for the OS, it will not impact Win98/NT-Workstation much since
nobody really buys them anyway, the computer just comes with one of them.
Linux would result in fewer NT-Server sales which is why I would not
expect to see Backoffice or Exchange Server ported to Linux.
George Bonser
Microsoft! Which end of the stick do you want today?
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