Windows Vista delay no effect says Linux expert

News that the release of Microsoft's new operating system Windows Vista is likely to be pushed back will have no significant effect on the Windows market, according to a leading open source software expert.

Con Zymaris, the CEO of consulting firm Cybersource and a specialist who has worked with Australian governments to develop open source strategies, believes that Microsoft may be able to make its self imposed deadline of Q107 for the Vista release. However, even if it misses by a few months, the Windows market will be unaffected, he says.

A research note from the four main Vista watchers at Gartner, Stephen Kleynhans, David Mitchell Smith, Neil MacDonald, Michael A. Silver, indicates that, based on Microsoft's track record of product releases, it is very unlikely that Vista will be available before the second quarter of next year.

"Microsoft's track record is clear; it consistently misses target dates for major operating system releases. We don't expect broad availability of Windows Vista until at least 2Q07, which is nine to 12 months after Beta 2," the research note states.

However, Zymaris believes the Gartner announcement has no real relevance to the state of play of Windows or for the Linux market.

"I would like to say that it presents a huge gaping opportunity for Linux. However, in reality I don't think it changes the landscape that much," says Zymaris. "Based on on history, Microsoft can bring out one of these desktop operating systems three years late like they did with Windows 2000. It didn't impact them on the desktop. What it boils down to is that you could create a Linux desktop that's ten times as good as Microsoft's but that's still not enough to allow people to jump across because most people are locked in to Windows. Let's face it whenever Vista comes out, if you go out and buy a new notebook, it will have Vista on it." [itwire.com.au]

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