Studies related to Microsoft

Studies related to Microsoft

There have been a number of studies related to Microsoft. They are always a source of great controversies, since the studies are often funded by people or companies having a stake in one of the sides, and there are a lot of advocates on both sides.

IDC study: Linux TCO vs Windows 2000 TCO

In October 2002, Microsoft commissioned International Data Corporation to determine the total cost of ownership (TCO) for enterprise applications on Windows 2000 versus the TCO of Linux on the same enterprise applications. IDC looked at security and other infrastructure tasks, and Web Serving. According to the report, Windows 2000 had a lower TCO for four infrastructure items and Linux had a lower TCO for web serving. IDC's report was based on telephone interviews of IT executives and managers of 104 North American companies in which they determined what they were using for a specific workload for file, print, security and networking services.

IDC determined that the four areas where Windows 2000 had a better TCO than Linux — over a period of five years for an average organisation of 100 employees — were in the use of file, print, network infrastructure and security infrastructure. They determined, however, that Linux had a better TCO than Windows 2000 when it came to web serving. The report also found that the greatest cost was not in the procurement of software and hardware, but in staffing costs and downtime. The report did not take into consideration the impact of downtime to the profitability of the business (although they did apply a 40% productivity factor, in order to recognise that employees are not entirely unproductive during periods of IT infrastructure downtime) though it did find that Linux servers had less unplanned downtime than Windows 2000 Servers. They found that most Linux servers ran less workload per server than Windows 2000 servers and also found that none of the businesses they interviewed used 4-way SMP Linux computers. IDC also did not take into account specific application servers — servers that need low maintenance and are provided by a specific vendor — when they performed their study. The report did emphasise that TCO was only one factor in considering whether to use a particular IT platform, and also noted that as management and server software improved and became better packaged the overall picture that was being shown in their report could change ref|LinuxVsWin2kTCO.

Criticism

This study was one of the most criticised studies, since Microsoft funded it. Many editorials were written about the study, including one by "The Register". [ [http://www.theregister.co.uk/2002/12/03/windows_costs_less_than_linux/ Windows costs less than Linux. A bit. Sometimes – MS study | The Register ] ]

Cybersource TCO study: Linux versus Windows

Melbourne-based Cybersource compared in 2004 the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) of running Linux versus Windows in the enterprise. Its studies found that Linux was 36% cheaper than Windows, when taking into account the software cost as well as service, support and upgrades. The study done in 2004 was an update on their previous studies in 2002, and found the same results.

Get the Facts

"Get the Facts" was an ongoing advertising campaign launched by Microsoft in 2004 to encourage users to switch from Linux to Windows Server System. [cite web
url = http://www.getthefacts.com
title = Get the Facts Home
accessdate = 2007-07-25
publisher = Microsoft
] It was originally focused on comparing the TCO of Linux to Windows, but later compared reliability, security and interoperability. Microsoft claims that its products have a lower overall TCO than open source programs, and that these savings are made by its ease of use, resulting in less work and lower staff wages.cite web
url = http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver/facts/analyses/tco.mspx
title = Get the Facts: Total Cost of Ownership
accessdate =
date = January 25 2006
publisher = Microsoft
pages = p. 10
quote = The cost of IT staffing for Linux is 59.5% higher than for Windows
]

Response

Microsoft's figures are disputed by a variety of organisations, notably Novell and The Register. [cite web
url = http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/10/22/linux_v_windows_security/
title = Windows v Linux security: the real facts
accessdate = 2007-07-25
author = John Lettice
date = October 22 2004
publisher = The Register
] [cite web
url = http://www.levanta.com/linuxstudy/
title = EMA Study: Get the Truth on Linux Management
accessdate = 2007-07-25
month = February | year = 2006
publisher = Enterprise Management Associates
] [cite web
url = http://www.novell.com/linux/truth/
title = Unbending the Truth
accessdate =
publisher = Novell
] [cite web
url = http://www.redhat.com/truthhappens/
title = Truth Happens
accessdate =
author =
last =
first =
authorlink =
coauthors =
date =
year =
month =
format =
work =
publisher = Red Hat
quote =
] Some websites suggest that some common inaccuracies in Microsoft's figures stem from including figures for Unix and Solaris with figures for Linux.fact|date=July 2007 Individual Linux and Unix administrators may have higher salaries than Windows administrators, but they tend to be more efficient and thus able to handle more servers.cite web
url = http://techupdate.zdnet.com/techupdate/stories/main/0,14179,2907876,00.html
title = Linux TCO edge: Lower labor costs
accessdate = 2007-07-25
author = Grant Gross
date = January 3 2003
publisher = ZDNet
]

In 2004, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) of the UK warned Microsoft that an ad from the campaign which claimed that "Linux was ... 10 times more expensive than Windows Server 2003", was "misleading", as the hardware chosen for the Linux server was needlessly expensive. [cite web
url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3600724.stm
title = Microsoft's Linux ad 'misleading'
accessdate = 2007-07-25
date = August 26 2004
publisher = BBC News
] The ASA's complaint was that "the measurements for Linux were performed on an IBM zSeries [mainframe] , which was more expensive and did not perform as well as other IBM series." The comparison was to Windows Server 2003 running on two 900MHz Intel Xeon CPUs. [cite web
url = http://news.com.com/Ad+watchdog+warns+Microsoft+to+'Get+the+Facts'/2100-1016_3-5323672.html
title = Linux 10 times more expensive? Get the facts, watchdog tells Microsoft
accessdate = 2007-07-25
date = August 26 2004
publisher = CNet
]

Windows XP Home Edition vs. Windows ME Public Report

American Institutes for Research conducted a comparative usability study of Microsoft’s Windows XP Home Edition and Windows Millennium Edition (ME) in August and September 2001. ["At its usability laboratory in Concord, Mass., the American Institutes for Research (AIR) conducted two studies for Microsoft, comparing the usability of Windows XP with Windows 2000 Professional and Windows Millennium Edition." [http://www.nulime.com/Microsoft-Windows-XP-Home/p67447] ] The goal of the study was to assess the differences in usability between the two operating systems’ user interfaces.

Thirty-six individuals participated in the comparative evaluation. AIR recruited 12 people in each of three user experience groups—Novice, Beginner, and Intermediate—as categorized by Microsoft’s Windows Knowledge Screener. Each participant performed the same tasks using both operating systems. Further, participants had no experience with either Windows ME or Windows XP before participating in the study. In order to eliminate learning effects, half of the participants performed the tasks using Windows ME first, and half used Windows XP first.

The study was conducted as a task-based evaluation in which participants attempted to complete a series of timed tasks. The set of tasks was designed to reflect ordinary usage of both operating systems. Intermediates attempted all 30 tasks, while Novices and Beginners attempted 28 tasks. Test administrators recorded whether or not participants successfully completed each task as well as the amount of took them to complete the task. In addition, we administered the System Usability Scale (SUS - © Digital Equipment Corporation, 1986), a ten-question survey that yields a score describing a system's overall effectiveness, efficiency, and user satisfaction.. At the end of each participants’ second test session, the test administer also asked which operating system they preferred and why. The results of the study suggest that, overall, the Windows XP interface is an improvement over the Windows ME interface. Primary findings of the comparison are as follows:
* On average, participants were able to complete 17.20% more tasks using Windows XP than using Windows ME.
* On average, participants completed the same tasks faster with Windows XP than with Windows ME.
* Prior Windows experience appeared to correlate with task performance more so with Windows XP than with Windows ME. With Windows XP, Intermediates successfully completed the largest percentage of tasks, followed by Beginners, then Novices. With Windows ME, Beginners completed the largest percentage of tasks, followed by Intermediates, and then Novices.
* Statistical analysis of the System Usability Scale (SUS) indicates that participants subjectively rated Windows XP as being more usable than Windows ME.
* After using both operating systems, 78% of participants preferred Windows XP over Windows ME.

GPLv3 study

Alan McCormack, a Harvard Business School professor, released a preliminary study that stated developers were reticient to move to the GPLv3. This study was widely criticized by the free and open source software community for having an insignificant survey size (34 of 134 emails sent, 11 percent response rate) who were already using and predisposed to non-GPL licenses, and for saying the GPLv3 was under-representative of developers when it has four steering committees. [http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070522-microsoft-funds-questionable-study-attacking-gpl-3-draft-process.html Microsoft funds questionable study attacking GPLv3 draft process] [http://www.groklaw.net/articlebasic.php?story=20070522181705737 Only 11% of OS Targeted Programmers Willing to Help MS-Funded Study] [http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,2134698,00.asp Study: Developers Do Not Want GPL 3 to Police Patents]

ee also

*Comparison of Windows and Linux
*Criticism of Microsoft

External links

* [http://www.microsoft.com/windows2000/docs/TCO.pdf Windows 2000 Versus Linux in Enterprise Computing (Microsoft)]
* [http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,118937,00.asp Study: Linux Is Still Cheaper Than Windows (PCworld.com)]

References

* Bozman, Jean; Gillen, Al; Kolodgy, Charles; Kusnetzky, Dan; Perry, Randy; & Shiang, David (October 2002). " [http://www.microsoft.com/windows2000/docs/TCO.pdf Windows 2000 Versus Linux in Enterprise Computing: An assessment of business value for selected workloads] . "IDC", sponsored by "Microsoft Corporation". White paper.
* [http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/03_09/b3822610_tc102.htm BW Online | March 3, 2003 | Pecked by Penguins]


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