Slashdot Mirror
MS Dissatisfaction High, Users Consider Switching
chriscooper1470 writes "Almost two-thirds of respondents to a recent
InternetWeek Reader Question said they are dissatisfied with Microsoft software, and 41 percent of respondents are at least thinking about switching away from Microsoft software. Only 28 percent of users responding to the poll described themselves as satisfied Microsoft customers. There are some great comments at the bottom of the article discussing why people voted the way they did. My favorite quote: 'At the end of the day, I still wish we had a viable alternative. There isn't one -- yet. We'll keep looking.' - Sure."
Look, I'm a Mac and Linux user myself, but come on. did you read the question they asked?
"Microsoft users are getting fed up. They're battered by worms, viruses, security patches and increasing enterprise licensing costs. Aggravation has users talking about switching from Microsoft software to something else. We're trying to figure out how much of that talk is just talk, and how much is serious action. Do you seriously plan to dump Microsoft software?"
You might as well ask, "Wal-Mart customers are fed up, since Wal-Mart employees kick puppies and laugh at old people. Are you planning to stop shopping at Wal-Mart?"
Also, it's an Internet poll...not scientific by any stretch. Seriously, I think a lot of people are fed up with MS, but linking to this story is just ridiculous.
We don't have a state-run media we have a media-run state.
"I read that Linux has issued 25 patches so far this year, so what is to be gained by switching?"
Yes 'Linux'. No distro, no particular installed apps/services, no particular kernel, just 'linux'. Linux, the company, you know..
Well done Chris Schlehein... I think you really deserve your title of "Enterprise Network Administrator". Your obviously SO clued up in the world of computing.
The fact is there are really no alternatives for most people.
B.S. Sorry to be so abrupt and crude, but this is simply not correct. There are many alternatives out there including OS X, various flavors of Linux, etc...etc...etc...
Macs are expensive,
Again, this is a popular misconception. If you are talking the local grey box manufacturer, yeah, you can probably get a $499 PC, but it will not have many of the features that the brand name boxes will have or the software. Generally you get what you pay for and with Apple products, you get a quality product with features that really do make a difference. Also at the high end, Macs often are cheaper to purchase. For instance, the OS X workstation I am typing this on right now was a full $900 cheaper than an equivalently configured Dell box and OS X provides a much more productive environment. In fact, for our lab which historically has been Wintel based, every new computer purchase in the last year and a half has been a Mac. The other thing you should know is that Macs have a lower total cost of ownership, require less maintenance, are more reliable, and make folks more productive.
and it's hard to find a good x86 box with Linux preloaded
This unfortunately in some cases has become true with Dell backing off their Linux push at Microsoft's urging. However, there are other companies out there bundling Linux in.
Until reliable, powerful PC's with alternate OSes and applications suites are easily obtainable,
Go here.
Visit Jonesblog and say hello.
I think it is a people problem, and people are finally starting to wise up and recognize that there are alternatives. Linux is popular enough now where a friend of mine, who, while computer literate, is not a technophile by any stretch, saw my Gnome desktop for the first time since my computer had been switched to Windows. His reaction? "Oh, is that Linux?" I didn't think Joe User had heard of Linux. I was mistaken.
He was quite impressed with Gentoo's speed and the ease of use of my system (Gnome, Gaim, Totem, AbiWord, Evolution, etc.). He uses his computer for gaming mostly, so I don't see him switching from Windows anytime soon, but he seemed fairly impressed at my framerates in Enemy Territory, and even more so at the fact that I hadn't paid a dime for a damned piece of software running on my computer.
Lots of people who do know of Linux don't realize how far Linux has come. Back in the summer of 2002, when Gnome 1.4 and KDE 2 were the norm as far as desktop environments went, I thought to myself, "Linux is pretty cool, but I don't think it will be ready for the desktop for another three or four years." Now, using Gnome 2.4 and GTK2 apps, I am astonished at how much the open-source community has been able to accomplish.
I think Linux is ready for the desktop right now. I think if computers were sold with Linux, for hundreds cheaper than comparable Windows PCs, people would start using it. And if not, maybe it would put some pressure on Microsoft to drop prices and stop making shitty products.
Keyword: unscientific poll.
Whenever you post a survey like this, you mainly get responses from people with strong opinions. What we really need to see is the responses from the other 80% of the people who don't care enough to respond to a survey like this.
-a