In August, my lab colleagues served up some desktop goodness in the form of a round table discussion of Windows 7, Linux and Mac operating system point/counterpoint. With eWEEK Labs Editor-in-Chief, Jason Brooks standing up for Linux and Senior Technical Analyst P. J. Connolly drilling in on Mac OS X, Senior Technical Analyst Andrew Garcia had plenty of material to cover in the best 15 minutes on enterprise desktops.
This round table discussion first aired as part of a Ziff Davis Enterprise virtual trade show. My fellow labbies layout their views on how Linux and Mac systems fit into the enterprise and why, as Jason Brooks said, “When it comes to the Windows desktop experience, Windows pretty much has it locked down.” You need to watch the video to get the witty twist.
As I re-watched the video, which you can do here, I was struck by the fact that in 2010 we could have a serious discussion about alternative desktop operating systems. Linux systems are found throughout enterprise operations–if not especially on users desktops, then in the data center. Jason Brooks drops some well placed opinions about why that is. And Apple is still the OS that most people think of when the topic is high value graphics and audio production. P. J. Connolly also has some things to say about what we might see in Windows 8.
Of course, Andrew Garcia has a lot to say about Windows 7–and Windows in general. He guides the ranging discussion to some useful conclusions about what IT managers should be thinking about as the latest version of Microsoft’s Windows operating system continues to push onto the stage of enterprise computing.