Linux, OpenBSD, Windows Server Comparison: Application Integration

Microsoft is the worlds largest software company. It's hard to argue with the proposition that it has the largest selection of tightly integrated servers, development tools and applications available from any single vendor. While Microsoft products may not be the most reliable, they often have the largest feature list. The development possibilities working only with Microsoft products is enormous, one might even say overwhelming.

The irony is that Microsoft, which started by supplying software for inexpensive mass market PCs, has created a product line that is so complex that only the largest companies have any chance or really understanding the capabilities to an extent that allows them to be exploited to a significant degree. Few workers or companies rarely more than scratch the surface of possibilities. Thus it's reasonable to describe all these unused capabilities as bloated featureware. Both the initial purchase price and subsequent support costs are increased as the large feature lists are a large contributor to the stability issues. Bigger isn't necessarily better. Flexibility, i.e., choices, mean complexity.

Sun Microsystems chairman, Scott McNealy, recently said "The first hit of heroin is always free.... Microsoft is integrated -- it's not integratable." This was in a meeting with British government officials regarding the British government web site that is only fully accessible with the latest Microsoft browser available only on Windows systems. Though his statement is overstatement, there is a large element of truth in it. There is an important difference between products that are already integrated and those that are integratable. The former work better with each other than other products. The latter can be made to work well with each other but not necessarily at the expense with how they work with other products.

In recent years Microsoft has made much over the fact that its products now support various non proprietary standards. Still, every one also supports significant proprietary extensions. I don't think I've ever seen a Microsoft product that did not have features that work better with or only with other Microsoft products. While this is natural for any company, when that company has such a breadth of products, with many totally dominating their respective markets, the implications are significant. Each Microsoft product in use at a company makes it easier for the next purchasing decision to be for another Microsoft product and less likely for it to be from another company even if the other product is clearly superior in nearly every regard except its integration with Microsoft products.

As long as you keep in mind that use of one Microsoft product strongly encourages the use of others, Windows as an OS clearly has the best application support. Linux is second with OpenBSD third.

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