Microsoft vs Linux - It's all about packaging and marketing!

This is not another propaganda of the Microsoft-Linux debate. I'm using both Ms-windows and Linux-based systems and there are pro and cons for both. I think that Microsoft are able to market themselves.

Windows

The Microsoft Windows operating systems has dominated the computer world for a number of years. They have also set new standards for the graphical user interface even though they have neither been the first or the best. Microsoft has done a lot to increase software development speed and help spread the use of software to ordinary people. And even Microsoft is picking nice features and ideas from KDE and Gnome to include in their windows system.
Microsoft have probably used a lot of code and software from the public domain and used and rewritten this without following the public license agreement that these are released under, as most companies around the world do today. Who sits down and rewrites a "million rows of code system" without looking at previous developed and commonly available code?
MS CEO Steve Ballmer said "Linux is a serious competitor" We have to compete with free software on value, but in a smart way. We cannot price at zero, so we need to justify our posture and pricing. Linux isn't going to go away -- our job is to provide a better product in the marketplace"
So will it be theMicrosoft "GPL" that kills the "open source and linux" community? Absolutely not!

Linux

Open Source development is something that all software producers have to consider. Free and Open Source software are gaining more and more acceptance.OpenSource and Linux based software is here to stay. It can not be bought by a monopolistic company like Microsoft because it is public property. First to use Linux is the enthusiasts, then comes the cost aware companies and institutions, and after that, everyone else. Linux software have been around for a long time now, and the necessary base programs have matured to a stable, secure and useful platform to use both for desktop and server systems.
The latest versions of KDE and Gnome (very common Linux Graphical user interface) has evolved to stable, nice, useful and feature full desktop environments.They are not perfect but good enough to use continuously and is supported by enough program to make a switch from a windows environment to a linux environment without too much trouble. I have been running linux on my servers for many years and almost nothing else as my choice of desktop for the last couple of years now.
There are thousands of documents, web pages and books on the subject on what to use, witch software is best, most powerful, cheapest, fastest and how to choose it. Check the links on the page above with references to Linux and linux vs. Microsoft.Why, What and Which Linux ? More Linux info here.