Just as with substitutes for Microsoft
Office we saw in Chapter 3, you need to be aware of the hidden soft
costs of switching to one of these Microsoft Windows alternatives.
First, consider the tremendous time and
resources your company would need to devote to training, testing and
piloting a substitute for Microsoft Windows, if you gave serious
thought to switching.
Then, think about all of the third-party
hardware devices, software applications and utility programs your
company relies on. How many of these vendors even have an equivalent
product outside the realm of Microsoft Windows? And if there are
options, what will these third-party products cost your company as
you migrate everything over to another operating system?
Linux vs. Windows Action Items
How committed is your company to Microsoft
Windows operating systems on your desktop PCs and notebooks?
Have you ever given serious thought to
switching your company to either the Apple Mac OS or a version of
open source Linux?
Do you know how to estimate the soft costs
of migrating your entire company to an alternative operating system?
Have you researched whether the third-party
hardware and software products that your company depends on are
supported under alternative operating systems?
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