Experts predict operating system free-for-all

NEWS Operating system software will eventually become free, but users will continue to pay for high-end application software, according to a Silicon.com straw poll of industry leaders. Although most agreed that the cost of software is falling, many of those polled said the complexity and brainpower behind application software means it will remain a proprietary commodity. Peter McLean, CEO at disaster recovery company, Guardian IT, said: "I can see a time when operating system software will be free because of the opportunity to sell a common system to a vast marketplace, but not with application software. It is extremely expensive to develop, very specialised and a relatively limited marketplace opportunity." Respondents generally agreed that a distinction between high-end, business-critical software and low-end consumer software will emerge. Andy Bailey, product director at Oracle, said: "I don't see a time when all software will be free. What I do see, though, is certain software becoming cheaper and more commoditised, [with] a divergence between commercial, low-end, free-for-all software and the real value-add, business-critical software at the high end." However, Lou Ryan, CEO of desktop management software vendor, ClickNet, argued that for high-end applications, the cost of software is not an issue. "People using those applications are concerned less about the actual cost of purchasing the product and more about the cost of deployment and installation on the back-side. Ongoing service and support from the vendor is critical [customers] are willing to pay for those services and support, but the cost of the software is not the overriding factor in the decision to purchase it." But Ryan agreed it will be a different story for low-end software. "I do see a time when the majority of simple consumer applications and small business applications will be free," he said.