Grim added that having Linux available on the x64 line isn't a big selling point for Sun in his IT shop. "We can buy machines that run Linux from lots of people," he said.

Schwartz's burdens

Concerns such as the ones voiced by Thomas and Grim are now entirely Schwartz's problem. He was named to replace McNealy -- one of the most combative, colorful and outspoken vendor executives in the IT industry -- as CEO on the same day that Sun reported a net loss of US$217 million for its third quarter. However, revenue grew 21 percent year over year to $3.18 billion. That was partly a result of the addition of revenue from Storage Technology Corp., which Sun bought last August. The growth prompted McNealy to say that the company's operations have been "stabilized" after years of financial struggles.

McNealy has said in the past that he and Schwartz, who previously was Sun's president and chief operating officer, were "joined at the hip." And during a joint conference call last week, McNealy -- who will continue as Sun's chairman and remain a full-time employee -- said that the two executives are still "highly aligned" strategically.

But analysts said that if Schwartz wants to hold on to the CEO job, he will have to give Wall Street what McNealy hasn't been able to deliver since the end of the dot-com boom: consistent profitability.