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After all you would have to compete with an OS that is firmly entrenched on 85-90% of desktop systems on one hand and a free operating system on the other Linu

After all you would have to compete with an OS that is firmly entrenched on 85-90% of desktop systems on one hand and a free operating system on the other Linux proves this wrong. People built that when the market was completely dominated by Windows. I think the author misses the real reason we don't see a bunch of new OS's: Unix variants and Windows solve their problems very well, and at this point most of the improvement is at the GUI/application layer (a la OS X).

timthorn 14y ago
But the server OS market was much more fragmented, and that's where Linux had its original success.
- Someone 14y ago
  Also, the phone OS market was much more fragmented, and that's where Linux had its other success. The desktop, on the other hand… let's say there is disagreement there as to whether Linux is a success there at the moment.
pixl97 14y ago
Unix variants and Windows solve their problems very well Maybe, maybe not, I think the bigger issue is the development cost it would take to get to Linux/Windows standards would be huge. This is why we have one Intel and AMD has to fight like hell to stay alive.
richy_rich 14y ago
>Linux proves this wrong. People built that when the market was completely dominated by Windows. Not really, I remember first seeing linux when I was at university in '93/94ish. The computer labs there were mostly SunOS (later Solaris) with a few Windows (3.11, I think) machines for business students. Personally many people had Macs or Amigas (or Atari ST) - or indeed they had PCs but running DOS/DRDOS etc. Windows wasn't completely dominating in business at that point either (although it was clearly winning, thanks to running on IBM compatible machines), DOS was still prevalent but I remember entire trading floors where all the desktops were Sun Ultras. When I started work a few years later the software we built worked on OS/2, NT, Mac (OS 8, I think) and various Unixes. I'd say the windows dominance wasn't long after, but the original Linux wasn't created in a market of complete windows dominance.
Alfred2 14y ago
have we really seen that much improvement in UI over the years? I wonder how much more we could see if the underlying OS was more supportive.

timthorn 14y ago

But the server OS market was much more fragmented, and that's where Linux had its original success.

Someone 14y ago
Also, the phone OS market was much more fragmented, and that's where Linux had its other success. The desktop, on the other hand… let's say there is disagreement there as to whether Linux is a success there at the moment.

pixl97 14y ago

Unix variants and Windows solve their problems very well Maybe, maybe not, I think the bigger issue is the development cost it would take to get to Linux/Windows standards would be huge. This is why we have one Intel and AMD has to fight like hell to stay alive.

richy_rich 14y ago

>Linux proves this wrong. People built that when the market was completely dominated by Windows. Not really, I remember first seeing linux when I was at university in '93/94ish. The computer labs there were mostly SunOS (later Solaris) with a few Windows (3.11, I think) machines for business students. Personally many people had Macs or Amigas (or Atari ST) - or indeed they had PCs but running DOS/DRDOS etc. Windows wasn't completely dominating in business at that point either (although it was clearly winning, thanks to running on IBM compatible machines), DOS was still prevalent but I remember entire trading floors where all the desktops were Sun Ultras. When I started work a few years later the software we built worked on OS/2, NT, Mac (OS 8, I think) and various Unixes. I'd say the windows dominance wasn't long after, but the original Linux wasn't created in a market of complete windows dominance.

Alfred2 14y ago

have we really seen that much improvement in UI over the years? I wonder how much more we could see if the underlying OS was more supportive.