Compaq provides litmus test for OS debate

1999-11-25

If ever there was a single company which could illustrate the complexities of the current Operating System debate, then it would be Compaq. The company is pulling back from NT on Alpha and is offering existing customers an array of options for migration or replacement. Customers can stay on Alpha and choose a free upgrade to OpenVMS, Tru64 Unix or (already free) Linux, or they can get 90% off the cost of a new Intel/NT system.

There are two things we can get out of this. The first is that Compaq, having done considerable homework, is unable to reach any conclusion about relative benefits or customer preferences for the four platforms. Of course, some are perceived as “mainstream,” “niche” or “just arrived,” but overall the company has been forced (though it is unlikely that Compaq would use that word) to offer a choice. This paints a considerably different picture from that suggested earlier this year, which saw NT/Intel and Tandem being the two platforms that the company would promote above all others.

The second point is that the results of the migration, which should come to light over the next six months, will provide a deep insight into the state of the operating system market. It is tempting to believe that customers will choose a migration to another NT platform as they already have skills in this area and given the popularity of the OS. The migration comes with a not insignificant hardware cost, however, and for various other reasons customers may be tempted to keep their existing hardware and change the operating system.

It is to be assumed that there will be additional costs associated with application upgrades, plus the labour and downtime costs of the migration itself. It seems unlikely that many will choose this route, unless they are dissatisfied with NT. Of those that do, maybe the most interesting data to come out will be the proportion of customers that choose Tru64 Unix over Linux. Clearly Compaq will be pushing Tru64 Unix, in which it has a major stake, hard. Success for Linux could well force new changes on the whole Unix OS landscape.

(First published 25 November 1999)