Datapro Report

Unix Survey: Users Like Reliability, Scalability, and Performance

Mary I. Hubley

While many users are including Microsoft operating systems in their purchasing plans, that doesn't mean they are downsizing their plans for Unix. According to Datapro's 1996 International User Ratings Survey on Unix and Open Systems, Windows NT is used in 38 percent of the organizations surveyed, and 23 percent more are planning to add NT this year. However, Unix remains popular due to its flexibility, scalability, and power, with which Microsoft currently cannot compete.

NT is the logical upgrade path for organizations that have outgrown Windows, and NT is making major inroads into Unix's low-end server market. Over the past two years, Unix vendors have reacted to market shifts caused by NT by moving to the high-end s erver market. For example, SCO, once considered the premier low-end Unix vendor, now markets its OS as an enterprise-class product for client/server and host-based systems.

Although users like Unix's reliability, high performance, scalability, interoperability, and client/server support, they also complained that Unix systems still cost too much, and that installation, ease of use, and user interfaces could be better. One version of Unix that received high marks for affordability is Linux, which is available for free or for a nominal CD-ROM charge. The Linux ratings cannot be considered statistically valid, but it's interesting to note that the OS scored quite well in ease of use, development tools and utilities, and of course price. It didn't score as well as the others in scalability. One reason could be that ports of Linux to RISC processors are newer to the market than versions for Intel-based PCs.

Over the years, one common complaint with Unix has been that it's too expensive. If Linux had been available 10 years ago, one can't help wonder what its impact would have been.

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Unix Results Summary

Product               IBM   Digital   HP-UX  SCO*  SunOS/   System V  Linux
                      AIX    Unix                  Solaris

Number of responses   181     81       224   202    297       114      33
Client/server         3.5     3.6      3.7   3.4    3.9       3.5      3.4
 support
Development           3.1     3.2      3.4   3.1    3.6       3.1      3.8
 tools/utilities
Interoperability/     3.6     3.7      3.6   3.2    3.9       3.5      3.7
 communications
Performance           3.6     3.9      3.8   3.4    3.7       3.7      3.6
Scalability           3.6     3.5      3.8   3.2    3.7       3.7      3.1
Security              3.2     3.3      3.3   3.2    3.2       3.3      2.8
User interface        3       3.2      3.4   2.7    3.2       2.8      3
Ease of installation  2.9     3.1      3.2   2.8    3.2
       3        3
Ease of use           3.1     3.3      3.3   2.9    3.1       3.1      3.4
Price                 2.7     3        2.9   2.8    3         2.9      4.7
Reliability           3.6     3.7      3.9   3.4    3.8       3.8      3.8
Maintenance/support   3.4     3.3      3.6   2.9    3.3       3.4      3
Overall satisfaction  3.3     3.4      3.5   3.1    3.5       3.3      3.5


Ratings are on a 5-point scale:
1 = poor, 2 = fair, 3 = good, 4 = very good, 5 = excellent.


*
 (Unix, Xenix, Open Desktop, OpenServer)

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Mary I. Hubley, principal analyst. For more information on Datapro Information Services: (800) 328-2776; (609) 764-0100; http://www.datapro.com .