Google to employees: Switch to Apple, Linux

Software giant Microsoft, whose Windows operating system dominates the desktop market, could be banished from desktop computers at another giant – Google. According to a report published on the Financial Times website last weekend, Google has told its employees that security vulnerabilities present in Microsoft's products have become too much of a liability. Google to employees: Switch to Apple, Linux The article quotes several unnamed Google sources to report that the company is “phasing out the internal use of Microsoft’s ubiquitous Windows operating system because of security concerns”. “We’re not doing any more Windows. It is a security effort,” the FT quoted one Google employee. These worries were reportedly exacerbated after Google’s Chinese operations were recently hacked. Another reason for the “semi-formal” policy, the article suggests, might be “an effort to run the company on Google’s own products, including its forthcoming Chrome OS, which will compete with Windows”. Away from the corporate world, average desktop users still overwhelmingly – up to 90 percent according to various sources – go for Windows, although in many parts of the world this means using illegal pirated copies of the operating system and other compatible software. Those looking for alternatives are faced with a choice similar to that reportedly put before Google's employees – Apple or Linux. And while Apple's Mac OS-running computers are considered well-designed, safe and stable, they are also proprietary and pricey. Meanwhile, various Linux operating system versions – or “distributions” – that run on PCs, remain open source and free of charge despite undergoing a revolution over the past decade that dramatically improved their usability and hardware and software compatibility. Linux industry leaders Red Hat and relative newcomers Canonical both sponsor desktop versions of Linux, which has long been touted as the stable and secure choice that dominates server and supercomputer scenes, with a strong presence in the embedded devices market. But now operating systems such as Red Hat-sponsored Fedora, and Canonical's Ubuntu in particular, also look to elevate the user-friendliness of the desktop to a new level. (FoNet, file)

Google to employees: Switch to Apple, Linux

The article quotes several unnamed Google sources to report that the company is “phasing out the internal use of Microsoft’s ubiquitous Windows operating system because of security concerns”.

“We’re not doing any more Windows. It is a security effort,” the FT quoted one Google employee.

These worries were reportedly exacerbated after Google’s Chinese operations were recently hacked.

Another reason for the “semi-formal” policy, the article suggests, might be “an effort to run the company on Google’s own products, including its forthcoming Chrome OS, which will compete with Windows”.

Away from the corporate world, average desktop users still overwhelmingly – up to 90 percent according to various sources – go for Windows, although in many parts of the world this means using illegal pirated copies of the operating system and other compatible software.

Those looking for alternatives are faced with a choice similar to that reportedly put before Google's employees – Apple or Linux.

And while Apple's Mac OS-running computers are considered well-designed, safe and stable, they are also proprietary and pricey. Meanwhile, various Linux operating system versions – or “distributions” – that run on PCs, remain open source and free of charge despite undergoing a revolution over the past decade that dramatically improved their usability and hardware and software compatibility.

Linux industry leaders Red Hat and relative newcomers Canonical both sponsor desktop versions of Linux, which has long been touted as the stable and secure choice that dominates server and supercomputer scenes, with a strong presence in the embedded devices market.

But now operating systems such as Red Hat-sponsored Fedora, and Canonical's Ubuntu in particular, also look to elevate the user-friendliness of the desktop to a new level.