According to industry analyst firm Gartner, the technology industry has entered a period of high commercialization of Linux. Many acknowledge that Linux may have a place in their organizations, but many questions remain – questions about the business and technical merits of Linux, what risks will need to be managed, and its future direction and roadmap.

It was with that in mind that Microsoft Canada engaged Compugen to review Windows Server 2003 and enterprise-level distributions of Linux from Red Hat and SuSE to help understand the practical implications of using one operating system versus another. The objective was simple - to produce a reference document to help IT managers and professionals consider their options. The test compared the usability characteristics of the three operating systems when it comes to performing a set of typical IT tasks from setting up user profiles to installing to managing desktop security.

Key findings from this test and demonstrations of how each platform fared in solving these IT tasks were given to the press last week.  Liam Lahey from eChannelLine Canada was one of the journalists in attendance last week and has already published his article on the event. http://www.integratedmar.com/ECL.cfm?item=DLY041005-5

The comment I think is most relevant is “Windows Server 2003 provided better functionality and usability than SuSE Enterprise 9 and Red Hat ES 3.4 primarily due to the immaturity of the Linux system management tools and a lack of supporting documentation.”

I think what companies need to remember as they look at open source software, is the level of support and accountability that they can expect to receive, and who they expect to receive it from.

Read the full report on the Compugen site.

What are your thoughts?

UPDATE: (May 6, 2005)

The Web cast is up and running from this event.  Head over to  http://www.insinc.com/hrc/20050508