Cost is not always the most important consideration, but if you are purchasing hundreds or thousands of desktops, it becomes a vital part of the equation. The total cost of desktops stretches far beyond the initial licensing fee. In the past, you were forced to spend much more for desktops than you should have because you were buying them from Microsoft.  When the high licensing fees of Windows desktops are accompanied by additional costs, including Software Assurance (SA) for maintenance, licenses for office productivity tools and new hardware to run the memory- and processor-hungr

Moreover, even if you sign up for a three-year SA agreement, you might not actually receive a new release of desktop Windows because Microsoft innovation and development are so slow. (Five years passed between the release of Windows XP and Windows Vista.)

When you use Windows desktops, you are using software that lags behind the competition in innovation. For instance, Microsoft lagged way behind in added functionality to Internet Explorer (IE) to make it somewhat comparable to Mozilla Firefox*. When you consider the loss of business due to numerous Windows security flaws and the required System Management Server to manage your desktops, itÂ’s no wonder that IT managers worldwide are clamoring for a lower-cost alternative.