It was based on 3 main points, most notably the low prices of personal computers

Expert: "Linux" is heading to win over "Windows" in the "desktop" competition

Windows and Linux operating systems have been in a state of continuous competition for more than a quarter of a century.

From the source

Since the emergence of the "Linux" operating system, which is free and open source, and its spread in the mid-nineties of the last century, it has been in constant competition with the closed Windows operating system owned by Microsoft, which sells it at prices it sets, and the two systems have competed in different fields, most notably The field of desktop and laptop personal computer operating systems known as desktop systems.

After more than a quarter of a century of competition, it seems that "Linux" will win in the end, according to what the international software expert and the greatest advocate of open source software, Eric Raymond, who led with other prominent experts, such as the designer of "Linux", Linus Torvalds. The open source software movement since its emergence in the mid 1990s until now.

Desktop Wars

Raymond's expectations came in his lengthy blog post, which he published on his official page, on the blog of the Organization, "Eublio", which is considered one of the most important blogs of open source software experts, under the title "The last stage of desktop wars", on the sidelines of the announcement by "Microsoft" of the launch of the trial version of Edge browser, which is designed to work with Linux Ubuntu, for review and testing by members of the Insiders Program, is a version intended for IT professionals and developers to test Web sites.

Key points

Raymond set out in his expectations for this intense competition from three basic points. The first is that the price of the original personal computers falls below $ 350 means that the competition will be decided in the interest of "Linux", while the second point is that "Linux" will end the competition, not by wiping out "Windows" and abolishing it from existence, but with participation. With him, while the third point is that in this post, "Linux" will be the base kernel of desktop systems, while "Windows" is an external layer that works over the basic "Linux" kernel as an interface to emulate and interact with users.

Low price

Regarding the first point, Raymond explained that with the decrease in the price of desktop and laptop personal computers, the cost of "Windows" becomes prohibitive for the OEMs, and a factor that reduces their profit margins, or makes their devices more expensive than the operating system "Linux", and then the manufacturers must The original equipment out of the camp «Microsoft» to continue to make any money.

He added that at this stage, "Linux" would win even if its user interface was bad, estimating that the price limit at which Microsoft could face this situation is that the original desktop and laptop computers price reached less than $ 350. He also estimated that things are moving. Quickly towards this price level.

Imperative participation

Raymond relied, in the inevitable participation point, on the initiative announced by "Microsoft" itself under the title "Shared Source", which means providing operating systems and applications, in which open and closed sources share together.

And he considered that such an initiative would end with a trend that eliminates many licensing restrictions at Microsoft, and expresses that Microsoft's strategic behavior is changing, with the conviction more and more that its business in the field of packaged software is doomed to failure, and then it is moving from the model of application service providers. , Which turns software and operating systems into a service over the Internet, and here the partnership with "Linux" becomes inevitable, which ultimately means that desktop systems and applications will end up in "Linux" as well.

Emulation layer

As for the third point related to that "Windows" will end up as a thin layer over the hard core of "Linux", Raymond saw that there are many signs that this is actually happening. The first is the development that has occurred in the "Linux" subsystem inside "Windows", which is It has evolved from a mere independent, stand-alone entity that does not touch the kernel of "Windows" to a component that gradually penetrates the kernel of "Windows" and dives deeper into reliance on the core "Linux" kernel, which makes the "Windows" system gradually give up its historical core.

Raymond pointed out that this approach was more evident in some of the famous applications operating on "Windows" systems, foremost of which is the "Edge" browser, whose outer shell or the layer of interaction with users remained belonging to the world of "Windows", but its basic kernel made by "Microsoft" “It was completely removed and replaced by the open-source Chromium kernel, which is based on Linux, and the Edge browser now works with the same kernel as the Chrome browser from Google, and Firefox from the Mozilla Foundation. Both are open source.

Running games

Software expert Eric Raymond said that Microsoft’s support for the “Proton” technology provided by the company “Valve”, which acts as a virtual cortical layer for emulation, makes some large complex electronic games run on “Windows” with a software kernel belonging to the “Linux” system. », And he added that running an emulation layer for games is more stressful and more difficult than running an emulation layer for business applications and productivity tools that Microsoft works with, such as the“ Office ”package, which means that the step of moving“ Office ”applications, and others to work with an emulation layer for“ Windows and the Linux kernel is something to be expected.