People Don't Trust Microsoft

The link will take you to a page in The Inquirer. (I sure link to them a lot, lately, don't I?)

Microsoft came in with the automatic transmission repair guys and roofers in a recent Forrester Research survey for it's "2005 Technology Brand Scorecard". Dell, Apple Computer and Bose came in around the top of the list.

Forrester seems to think this means big trouble for MS down the road, including mass customer defections (assuming something comes along for them to defect to besides Macs, I guess). This agrees with the general conclusion that Linux distros geared toward the desktop, especially Novell/SuSE Linux Enterprise Desktop. (SLED? Wasn't that an insult to a slow car when we were growing up?)

There are other candidates. Ubuntu/Kubuntu GNU/Linux, Sun's Java Desktop System and who knows how many other flavors of *nix wait in the wings. Should Apple drop prices some and become a bit more forthcoming about matters of security, Macs could see a huge jump in share over this, as well.

It's all conjecture, admittedly. Well, that and the IT equivalent of reading tea leaves (counting the flecks of Cheetos adrift in a can of Jolt. No cheating now. Only the ones on the surface count.). Even so, they may be on to something here. Friends, clients and other people with my phone number are expressing exasperation with MS over a variety of matters where those people would have simply written their concerns off as a cost of doing business juat a few months ago.

Jack