WHITE PAPER
MICROSOFT WINDOWS SERVER VS. RED HAT ENTERPRISE LINUX

Costs of Acquisition and Support – A Comparison
August 2005
PREPARED FOR

Microsoft
TABLE OF CONTENTS Main Findings.................................................... 1 Executive Summary ......................................... 2 Analysis ............................................................. 2
License and Subscription Considerations Support Considerations The Total Solution Viewpoint 2 3 6

Main Findings
1. Microsoft’s Windows Server 2003 enterprise license and support costs are competitive with Red Hat Enterprise Linux. 2. The two companies’ different approaches to enterprise licensing and support, and the fact that investments of this magnitude tend to involve longer-term commitments, means that the best pricing comparisons should be based on a period of ownership (three to six years), rather than on just initial acquisition charges. 3. Support is integral to both companies’ solutions and Microsoft’s separate support and license fee structures, in contrast with Red Hat's combined subscription and support offerings, can give a Microsoft solution a significant pricing advantage over a Red Hat solution.

In Review ........................................................... 7
Major Findings Other Findings 7 7

Appendix –Modeling Assumptions................. 8
General Operating System Licensing and Subscription Pricing Support Server Hardware 8 8 9 9 10

Chart 1 compares the cumulative operating system license and support charges an enterprise would accrue from running Microsoft Windows Server 2003 versus those it would accrue from running Red Hat Enterprise Linux. The comparison is based on an ownership period of several years, and assumes support is provided by Microsoft or Red Hat, respectively. In this example – which is based on Microsoft’s volume pricing discount,