8 reasons to move from Windows to Linux

• Stability
• Linux is known for its stability in general. On the desktop is important other attribute of Unix philosophy saying: "do only necessary functions, but do them right". Linux applications are not so bloated with a lot of unused functions, but the functions they have work in 100% cases. The applications do not collide with neither operating system nor other applications - no more "blue screens".
• Security
• Linux is immune to viruses. Open source applications are also free of trojan horses and spyware, because anybody can see their code and check their integrity.
• Longer hardware life cycle
• Linux and its software could be set up and customized the way it could run on lower grade hardware without compromising the performance. You could choose when you will upgrade. You are not pushed by your vendor to upgrade, when your hardware is not able to handle new "fatter" version of proprietary software.
• Ability to use existing Windows applications
• If you use special application, which is not available for Linux and it does not have a alternative or you insist on it, nothing is lost. Windows application could run on Linux via Windows API emulators or virtual PCs.
• Standards
• Linux use standards and even more Linux help to define standards. And these standards are open, so everybody can use them with no restrictions. You could be sure then, your work could be shared with other people when using open source applications as they use open standards and open formats. You do not use black box.
• Wide vendors portfolio
• Linux systems are provided by many vendors. Although that, all systems share the design and core. So it is extremely easy to switch vendor of Linux no change of "look and feel" and user experience at all.
• Keeping up with innovation
• Open source projects are naturally more innovative. Development of new features or redesign of outdated features is fast, so you could always utilize the latest technologies to stay ahead of your competitors. On the other side you don't have to worry about compatibility, because everything could be updated to its new version and ancient backward compatibility is also kept as optional component in Linux systems.
• TCO - Total Costs of Ownership
• This could be matter of opinion, but we believe Linux has lower TCO than proprietary solutions, definitely in long term. Our real experience is initial investments of implementation is comparable to proprietary systems (despite the fact it is usually much less). Once you have Linux system up and running, you don't have care of it for years. No reinstallations required because of performance drops after few month of usage, no disk defragmentations, no registry corruptions.

Who should consider the migration

Linux becomes suitable for almost any type of usage within a company, but certainly there are areas where the migration is easier. Probably the easiest area of migration are "transactional users". These users use the computer for one or more or less one purposes. They typically use one specialized application for ensuring one or small number of business processes, for example: employees at counters, phone info lines, warehouses. The switch easy as it requires to adjust (or port to Linux) only one application, users will then uses the same application as before, so no additional training is required.

Other area with easy migration are general office users. They use limited set of applications document processing (office) application, email client, web browser, file manager etc. All these general purpose applications are available on Linux and there are more applications options for each purpose. Because this scenario means for users switching to completely different application set, it good to progress in steps since many of open source Linux desktop applications are also available for Windows.

Other are involves users who use special purpose applications (ERP, CRM systems etc.), where these applications are hosted on remote computer and users just connect to them with remote desktop ¿ thin clients. This scenario would mean only back-end (thin client) system replacement. Unfortunately there are not many full thin client systems.

How to migrate

Desktop PC migration is always sensitive project with huge consequences for the company, because it changes users every day behavior and work. It requires careful attention in every project phase ¿ from analysis through solution design, implementation and pilot operation to training and support. There must be harm to company operation or output.

Zonio will help you to prepare the project, will guide you through all necessary steps and will provide you support for post-migration phase.