Analysis of Features of Operating System Products

Information Technology has evolved over a period of time from Electronic Data Processors (EDP) to Cloud based technologies. Software is a critical component in this industry. The core product component in software is the set of instructions in the form of source code. During inception of the industry, programs were available at no cost. In the next era of information technology, programs which were free off cost were sold at a price. The programs were sold in the form of licenses. Proprietary software dominated the industry. The hardware manufacturers, users and organizations had to largely depend on propriety software. In the recent years users are moving towards open source applications. In specific, open source based operating system is being used and preferred by most of the users. Microsoft has considerably lost its market share in operating system products from 94.38%(based on data compiled by Authors) in Jun 2007 to 86.58% in May 2011. One of the main drivers of market share is product acceptance. Product acceptance is largely dependent on product features. This paper makes an attempt to identify critical features of operating system that may result in product acceptance and increase market share.