MS: Windows Cheaper than Linux, Apache

Microsoft has launched a new campaign to promote Windows as a more reliable and less costly platform for businesses than Linux. The company is citing a report it commissioned from VeriTest, which found that Windows Server 2003 prevented more downtime and was better at resolving issues than Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3.0.

To help back up its claims, Microsoft has enlisted three companies who switched from Red Hat Linux to Windows. National Enterprise Systems issued the strongest warning against using the free open source UNIX platform.

"We migrated from SCO UNIX to Red Hat Linux about a year ago. We had more downtime in the first eight months on Linux than we had in the entire previous 17 years of our company," said NES chief information officer Matt Javorsky.

Independence Air said running Linux and Apache "required four full-time consultants at $115 to $130 per hour." By making the jump to servers running Windows Server 2003, the airline claims it reduced costs over 70 percent from its Apache-based infrastructure.

Although Microsoft funded the trials, the company maintains VeriTest, a division of Lionbridge Technologies, is an independent organization.

"We simulated a real-world medium-sized business environment with two independent teams of IT professionals who passed a thorough screening process prior to the study, so the results of this study are consistent with the experience of many customers in the real world," explained Katrina Teague, vice president of Marketing and Solutions at VeriTest.