It has been repeated too many times that the Chinese write the word crisis combining the ideograms that represent danger and opportunity, however, no one was able to find a better definition. The appearance of Windows 11 can be a great opportunity to convince people of the benefits of hardware based on open standards. However, as I expressed in the previous article, without native apps that stand out, this is never going to happen.
And, if it doesn't happen, we will be tied to programmed obsolescence and other quirks of hardware manufacturers.
At previous article I spoke of the domestic market. VLet's see what Windows 11 plans are for the corporate market and see what open source can learn and adapt.
Microsoft wants to seduce companies
Let me add another commonplace. The tree did not let most of the analysts see the forest. Almost all of them focused on changing the user interface, Android compatibility, or hardware requirements. However, although they were not as visible or complete, there are strong signs that Microsoft remains determinedly interested in the corporate market.
Unlike the domestic market, where its leadership was diminished by the increasing use of mobile devices (dominated by iOS and Android) corporate consumers remained loyal to Redmond products. However, hand in hand with Chromebooks, Google pointed with some success to this segment. And the more Chromebooks you sell, the more users for your cloud and collaborative solutions.
The great asset of Google is that, from the hand of its distributors, it delivers the devices ready to use in the customer's network. (Network managed by Google Workspace) We are not talking about home Chromebooks. They are teams with additional security measures and, at least in the US; able to communicate using 4g in case of Wi Fi unavailability. The operating system (Chrome OS) is already installed and can run Android and Linux applications (Plus some Windows under Wine)
Microsoft cannot or does not want, at least for the moment, to make its own Chrome OS, but, to avoid the massive exodus of users to other platforms Microsoft offers free support for companies within 150 or more posts Microsoft 365, to support migrations to Windows 11 through its App Assure program.
So that your customers won't be tempted to use Zoom, Google Meet, or Slack, Microsoft Teams is on the taskbar, allowing Windows 11 users to connect via text, chat, voice or video with anyone, anywhere through Windows
Microsoft needs the support of IT managers. Those people are usually the most cautious before deciding to adopt a new operating system. And, they have to be because they are responsible for keeping everything running safely. That is why the company went out of its way to insist that Windows 11 can be managed exactly like Windows 10.
On the other hand, the firm also guaranteed that lExisting applications for Windows 10 will work exactly the same in the new version and released tools so that both developers and sysadmins can detect problems early.
Corporate user market What should Linux do?
In a previous column I said that the key for the domestic market were applications, not mere copies of old versions of proprietary software, but programs with their own characteristics that excite. And, may that enthusiasm lead people to buy hardware with Linux installed natively.
As we saw with the example of Chromebooks and, what Microsoft is offering with Windows 11, andIn this market the key is to offer comprehensive solutions. With integral solutions I mean a combination of hardware, software and services that serve to facilitate the operations of organizations.
Linux is already installed in the server and cloud market, so businesses know it. What it is about now is to extend it to other sectors of the organization.
Hello:
I totally agree with you. If Gnu Linux is not modernized (in every way) it will never exceed 1%.
It reminds me of the beginnings of the Industrial Revolution, artisan workshops versus factories.
However, there is something I do not understand, (excuse my ignorance). Wasn't Ubuntu supposed to be the flagship company that was going to take this big step? The one that was going to dispute the market with Microsoft Windows? Given the large number of resources that Cannonical has, I remember reading that it was going to mean a before and after in the world of the penguin.
Here we enter the field of opinion. This is my vision.
Canonical's great resources have never been so great in the first place. It was a much smaller company than the former Novell or Red Hat.
Until almost by chance they discovered the cloud market, Canonical did not make a profit.
Second, the inconstancy of Mark Shuttleworth. One day you had the possibility of installing a proprietary driver from scratch and the next day you didn't. One day you woke up with GNOME and the next with Unity. I remember writing an article about the future of Ubuntu on mobile phones and before publishing something he tells me to look at the email. It was the announcement that Canonical was leaving the mobile market.
Another problem was its hypersensitivity to the opinions of the Debian community. Interesting projects were abandoned because "they were not open"
So the most promising thing now is Manjaro? In the 6 years that I have been using it, I have only had to correct 3 serious errors on my machine, but the rest is quite stable, the bad thing is not having tools in Linux that allow a simple installation of Windows programs and games, something which really limits a lot of home users, but on a business level I think Manjaro could be a good competitor (as long as business tools are not closely tied to windows so they don't run or run with imperfections through wine or that these business tools are not supported outside of windows systems or cannot be replaced by free alternatives), if you are already venturing into the world of phones and tablets with pine64