I'm with you on this one Dave (and not just cos of the jBoss thing...)

My recent concern was that that potential users simply won't get a look at desktop Linux as a lack of OEMs and IT department resistance to change will block the opportunities for serious consideration.

It is the CIO's job, however, to consider the best alternatives in terms of functionality and cost, and with that in mind if any CIOs are looking at the potential for Vista without considering Linux on the desktop then they are not really doing their job properly.

With that in mind, the forthcoming release of Vista must present a window of opportunity, for Linux on the desktop, as many many businesses consider their desktop options for the first time in a long time, and for the first time in an even longer time find that it's not just a case of which Microsoft license they choose from.

While I think that Linux is a viable contender on the desktop, it isn't at 10% of Microsoft's price if you also want enterprise support. Both RedHat and Novell have priced their desktop offerings so high that most CIO's will just pass on them, unless they have hundreds or thousands of machines to consider.

The price differential just isn't that great, unless you're considering a totally captive desktop like a call center, where you can get the big quantity discount on the desktop distro, and use a top-tier open-source CRM like XRMS CRM or Compiere ERP+CRM

Regards,

- Brian

Absolutely! I've been campaigning on the platform of "Vista and Office 2007 are a huge opportunity for Linux and OpenOffice.org" for quite a while. The cost of upgrading will give a lot of IT managers the eye bulges, and the features in the upgrades won't quite seem as important.

As Jon says, do you actually *need* most of the features in Vista or MS Office 2007? Or in the current version of Windows or MS Office? A whole lot of people don't.