Taking a 100% Microsoft client-server systems environment and simply adding Linux based desktops to the mix is a bit like dropping a mongoose into a snake pit -- short term savings on licensing and hardware will be eaten up by increased support costs and decreased operational stability. One alternative is to adopt Unix throughout the enterprise, earning savings in the 40% range while improving reliability and performance by combining centralized processing with simplifed networking, desktop smart displays, and enhanced user control over corporate data processing.
In the movie Raiders of the Lost Ark Indiana Jones is confronted by an obviously highly skilled and aggressive local sword fighter who clearly expects to hack up our hero after a glorious, and ritualistic, hand to hand battle. Unfortunately Dr. Jones is too harried to play, and shoots him dead at twenty paces in a classic demonstration of what happens when a clearly superior technology appears on the scene. From the perspective of those who pay for or use corporate computing, Unix can offer superior technology but the real life transition won"t be as simple or dramatic as the movie metaphor.