Enhancements to Windows Server are being designed specifically to tackle the places where Linux is strongest, notably for Web development, security servers and high-performance computing, said Bob Muglia, senior vice president in charge of Windows Server development.
Meanwhile, Microsoft is pursuing a multiyear plan called Common Engineering Criteria to create common administrative tools for its server application line, from Windows Server to SQL Server.
Having products that are engineered to work together--something open-source competitors cannot do--will ultimately make Microsoft products easier to run and more cost-effective over time, said Paul Flessner, senior vice president of server applications.
"You can compete with an acquisition price of zero if, over the lifetime, you have a lower total cost of ownership. I think it will be very difficult for them to emulate, honestly, given their economic models," Flessner said. "I feel good about the low-end assault from freeware."
Competing stacks
Historically, Microsoft took on the business market via the low end. Microsoft's server products were used for relatively simple applications, which gave the company a toehold in large corporations and significant presence among small- and medium-size businesses.
The LAMP stack, meanwhile, has found a lot of popularity on the Internet, particularly among Web hosters.
But the LAMP combination is increasingly being used in mainstream corporate software development--competing more directly against Windows and .Net, according to analysts and industry executives.
"The LAMP stack is definitely taking market share from Microsoft," said Doron Gerstel, CEO of Zend Technologies, which sells PHP development tools.
Gerstel acknowledges that Microsoft has strong development tools that are in a "league of their own," but tooling for LAMP is improving quickly through the efforts of companies such as Zend and the work of open-source communities.
The LAMP combination also gives corporate customers more choice among vendors rather than going only with Microsoft. "More and more enterprises are going with the best-of-breed stack," Gerstel said. "Lock-in is a very important element."
Microsoft alternatives to LAMP are good, particularly in regard to development tools, said Greg DeMichillie, an analyst at Directions on Microsoft.
But even with Microsoft's strong tooling and its long-term commitment to better Windows management, the selection of operating system--Linux versus Windows Server--will heavily influence the choice between competing development stacks.
"For Microsoft, the primary lead in the sale has always been the (Windows) platform," DeMichillie said. "The second is how easy they make it to develop for the platform."
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