Compared to the Windows operating system, Linux is an upstart. As the flagship product of Microsoft, Windows benefits from more than two decades of intense, heavily funded development work. Microsoft programmers have incorporated feedback from countless users in both the server and desktop sectors. To the general public, the term "Windows" is synonymous with "computer." Linux, although it has been in existence for years, has only begun its climb up the enterprise-computing chain in the last two to four years. It is little known by the general public. The Linux kernel has yet to make it to version 3.0.
Yet the upstart Linux invokes comparisons to Windows because of its growth rate. Research firm IDC identifies the "Lintel" format, or Intel-based servers running Linux, as the faster-growing server segment. Sun has launched its Mad Hatter Linux desktop push, and Wal-Mart has begun selling ultra-cheap Linux-based PCs. Governments around the world -- including the U.S. -- have started to make Linux their OS of choice. Still, can this young operating system compete with Windows technologically? Is it ready to go head to head with Microsoft's well-developed OS?
Source:
http://www.newsfactor.com/perl/story/22080.html