In the latest validation of the power and presence of Linux, a recent report disclosed that seven of the top ten super computers in the world now run Linux. To some, this represents the essence of how serious and formidable is the capability and challenge of Linux to Microsoft's reign on corporate computing. To others, the uniqueness of super computing raises questions whether it is even relevant in the context of the enterprise. No matter how you cut it, there is no doubt that Microsoft's Server OS is not in the running for supercomputer use.

Moreover, Microsoft continues to validate the benefit of UNIX OS variants by employing SUN Solaris and FreeBSD in several of its major infrastructures. Scaling matters and in the reality of mass scaling projects even Microsoft seems to shy away from using its own product in some very important initiatives.

...Although extremely aggressive in its marketing and relationship initiatives in Asia, Microsoft is seeing diminishing returns. India's national government not only announced that OpenSource tools and projects would become defacto standard (resulting in a major cut in the Microsoft Office and Applications sales), it also validated the value of Linux as ever growing numbers of IT education schools move to Linux as a primary teaching tool. China has now also chosen its own manifest destiny by deploying major infrastructure initiatives using Linux, and opening the door for Linux as a primary OS. Two huge future markets for Microsoft cut off in their infancy. The reality is that this event is occurring in many other places around the world, in smaller, but still significant numbers. The national government of Brazil is well known for switching much of its computing systems over to Linux and OpenSource applications. Again and again, even here in the United States we see small and large companies migrating key server needs to Linux.

ReallyLinux