Microsoft acknowledges competition from Canonical and Red Hat

Microsoft's latest 10K filing with the SEC sees the company officially acknowledging that it faces competition from Linux vendors on the client side of its business, namely desktop Windows. Citing Canonical and Red Hat as "competing commercial software products", alongside Apple's products, Microsoft acknowledges that partners such as Hewlett-Packard and Intel have been "actively working with alternative Linux-based operating systems" and suggests that competitive pressures on OEMs and the low-price of netbooks are to blame.

Linux has previously been mentioned in Microsoft's annual 10K filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, but the company has usually restricted references on competition to the server side of the business, along with references to HP, Sun and IBM Unix systems. This years 10K also includes an admission that the company is concerned with competition for Internet Explorer, citing Apple, Google, Mozilla and Opera as competitors and it is concerned that mobile browsing, specifically with Google's Android operation system, may take away from desktop and laptop PC sales where traditionally, it has been strong.

Microsoft says though that it will "compete effectively delivering innovative software", which is helped by Windows "familiar, easy-to-use interface" and "compatibility with a broad range of hardware and software applications".

(djwm)