10 times better?

10 times better?

There's a good of thumb used in marketing which is that if you want to displace an entrenched competitor with a lock on the market, your new product had better be at least 10 times better[1].

Is Linux 10 times better than Windows? I like to think it's better, but it's certainly not 10 times better, however you might define that (eg. 10 times more productive? - not a chance).

Given that Linux isn't 10 times better, and I'd say it's also not likely to become 10 times better either, there are two other things that could happen:

(1) The disruptive technology: People stop using PCs and laptops and start using some other type of computing service. Web services anyone?

(2) Microsoft makes a catastrophic mistake. Microsoft rarely makes mistakes.

My point, I suppose, is that either Linux has got to become a lot better in short order, or else people shouldn't concentrate on capturing the desktop, but should look for making that disruptive change happen instead.

Rich.

[1] See rule #56 here: http://www.klhess.com/bootstrap/less_stra.htm amongst other places.