While OSDL's Rosenberg argued that the release of Windows Vista will cause many corporations to seriously look into switching to Linux on the desktop, Enderle disagreed. Linux's best prospects, he said, are not on PCs, but with cell phones or newfangled consumer electronic-type appliances, such as the Linux-based Tivo.

"You can't out-resource Microsoft or out-compete them," Enderle said. "You need to find out where the market is going. As Netscape [founder] Jim Barksdale says, 'Find a parade, and get in front of it.'"