[Sussex] Improving on UNIX

[Steve Dobson]

Geoff

On 14 March 2003 at 09:15 Geoff Teale
> Microsoft are planning on including the SQL Server engine to present a
> filesystem for future versons their server platform _only_.  There has
been
> much debate as to whetherer there is a genuine motivation to provide BeFS
> style functionality or this is just another attempt to integrate a product
> with the operating system when there is a market that they do not dominate
-
> look at that pattern :
> 
> In the past:
> Netscape domminates the browser market - Microsoft integrate IE into
Windows.
> Real systems dominate the streaming media market - Microsoft integrate
> Windows Media Player into Windows
> 
> IN the near future:
> Apache dominates the web server market - Microsoft integrate 
> IIS into their server platform (we're already halfway there).
> Oracle dominate the database market - MIrcosoft integrate SQL 
> Server into their server platform.

I think you've missed on important different.  Microsoft only dominate where
WinOS is the dominate OS on which those applications run.  Netscape lost out
to IE on WinOS, like wise with streaming media market.  If Microsoft bundles

a web browser with the OS then why go out an get another package when the 
one bundled for free will do (for must losers)?

However in the back room Microsoft servers are not gaining ground on Sun,
HP, IBM,
and the rest.  If you look at the web server survey[1] IIS is in decline at
the
moment while apache is on the increase.  Sure there was a large growth of
IIS
sites, and at some expense to Apache, back in May 2001, but as SysAdmins
found
that IIS was not a better system.  The decline of IIS must show a decline in
WinOS (at least for Web servers) in the back room.

Now that Apache 2 is out and supports WinOS much, much better than Apache
1.4
did I can only hope that Apache starts to take over some of the WinOS
systems.

Steve

1: http://www.netcraft.com/survey/