This set of criteria defines the intrinsic features and functions of the OS. This note evaluates the features and functions delivered by the product itself, which together with product architecture, often make up over 90 percent of what is considered in the most uninformed, unstructured IT product selections.
The note itself is divided into three parts, each part covering a group of functional subcomponents, as follows:
Part I - Product Development
* application support
* fault tolerance
* file and print
Part II - Administration
* communications and network support
* security
* setup and migration
Part III - User
* bundled applications
* usability
TEC's TESS selection methodology includes five additional broad criteria. Although they are touched upon briefly here, they were not evaluated in this report. Further analysis is available online in our WebTESS system.
* Product Technology (Integration with third party applications and management systems)
* Product Cost
* Corporate Strategy
* Corporate Service & Support
* Corporate Viability
Red Hat Linux 6.2
Linux is based on a "clone" of the Unix operating system, originally made by Linus Torvalds in 1991 as a graduate student at the University of Helsinki. The core of Linux is "open source"; all version source code is available under open license, and any extensions or modifications must be submitted to the Linux community at large for inclusion in the main, shared body of Linux code. Within the space, Red Hat is the leading provider of Linux "distributions" and service. Red Hat Linux 6.2 was released in April 2000.
Caldera OpenLinux eDesktop 2.4
Caldera Systems began life as Novell CEO Ray Noorda's marketing arm for a non-Microsoft version of DOS originally developed at Digital Research, DRDOS. Caldera has made significant inroads in the Linux market. OpenLinux eDesktop 2.4 is high-performance desktop software optimized for the Internet. It also includes powerful Internet-ready applications designed specifically for helping you enjoy and maximize the power of the Internet.
Windows 2000 Professional
Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional is Microsoft's premium desktop operating system. Released in February 2000, Windows 2000 is the successor to Windows NT. Windows 2000 promises cross-compatibility with existing Windows 95/98, while extending the stability and security of Windows NT.
Based on TEC's weighted scoring, we find Caldera eDesktop 2.4 to have a slight edge in functionality over Microsoft Windows 2000, and a significant edge over Red Hat Linux 6.2. Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional beats Caldera in its application support architecture, security, and usability features, but Caldera's strong showing in all other areas, particularly bundled applications and setup outweighs these advantages. In the following chart, Caldera's baseline scores are compared to its rivals.
[Decision Based on: Product Functionality]
This section discusses the functional subcomponents that deal with product development. For a discussion of functional subcomponents that deal with administration see Part II, and for the User see Part III.
Application Support Architecture
At its core, an operating system provides a substrate for running computer programs. Among the desktop operating systems, Windows 2000 Professional holds a clear advantage over Caldera and Red Hat. TEC has identified the following broad sets of criteria for scoring each operating system's fundamental underpinnings.
Processor and Memory
The processor and memory criteria rate the OS on its fundamental, "kernel" functionality - how it executes programs and manages program and system memory. Factors to consider for processor and memory are as follows:
Memory Model - how well the OS addresses large blocks of memory, and how much memory is it capable of addressing
Memory Protection - how well the OS segregates memory for different running processes
VMM - ability to use swap files to simulate large blocks of addressable memory
Multiprocessor Support - ability to run programs, processes and/or threads across more than one CPU
Process Scheduling - set time slicing/priority among different processes, daemons, and threads
Macintosh - ability to execute native Apple Mac OS binaries
Although all operating systems are close, Windows 2000 holds a slight edge over its Linux rivals, thanks to its superior memory model and memory protection.
There are a number of competing methods for providing cross-program execution of batch jobs or scripts. Scripts allow for the automation of repetitive program tasks, and may best be thought of as an enhanced, multi-application "macro" language.
VBA, or Visual Basic for Applications, has been extended beyond a Microsoft-written application to provide a common engine for automating Windows programs. Perl is perhaps the best known of the Unix-derived scripting languages. AppleScript is a common macro language used on Macintosh platforms. And JavaScript, originally released by Netscape as a browser scripting language, provides a browser-centric method for automating a program.
Windows 2000, by virtue of its support for JavaScript, VBA, and Perl, is the clear winner here.
Directory services are the principal means for centralizing organizational data. Historically, directories merge information about systems, printers, permissions, and users. Since the release of Novell Inc.'s Netware Directory Services in 1993, the trend has been toward collecting more user preferences, histories, and other rich data sets across a variety of operating systems and environments, including NetWare, Cisco IOS, and Windows NT.
Novell's NDS is a proven enterprise directory. First released as part of NetWare 4.0 in 1993, NDS has proven capable of handling billion object databases, global Fortune 50 enterprises, and the user directory for CNN.com.
Microsoft's Active Directory debuted in 2000 as a component of Windows 2000. Like NDS, it also provides for federated, cross-domain references to directory objects.
LDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol) is common set of formats for adding and querying directory databases. It is best described as the SQL of directories.
Among the major desktop operating systems, Microsoft Windows 2000 does extremely well, with at least adequate support for each of the directory systems. Caldera receives an "honorable mention" for its inclusion of the Netware Client.
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