Despite a recent surge in interest in Linux, it will fail to make much of an impression on the desktop, claims a Gartner analyst.
Linux will be deployed on no more than five percent of desktops over the next two to three years because of a lack of viable applications, claimed Gartner research director Phil Sargeant on Thursday evening at the Gartner Symposium and ITXpo.
"There's quite a lack of tools in that particular space," said Sargeant. "We are going to need to see more tools if it's to make any inroads." He cited StarOffice and Open Office as examples of the few good tools available.
"The other [operating systems] are not standing still," added Sargeant. "The real question is the application portfolio for Linux. If that increases out of sight [Linux' market share] may be larger, but if it stays where it is, as we expect it to, it will be about five percent."
Lindows, which targets the budget-desktop market in the US, offers hundreds of programs for a single fee through its Click-N-Run Web site, but Sargeant does not see this as being a serious threat to Microsoft. "Lindows is a player, but not a big player," he told ZDNet Australia . "We don't see a mass migration from Windows to something else."
View: Full Article
News source: ZDNet Australia
