Last fall, I suggested that Hewlett-Packard's version of Unix--HP-UX--could be Intel's ticket into the data center. Why HP-UX and not Windows? Also last fall, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer was candidly noting that Windows had thus far failed to penetrate the data center and that, going forward, this penetration would be his biggest challenge. But now that challenge is looking more like a window of opportunity as long as Microsoft addresses the biggest and most outstanding concerns of data center managers.

People and performance are the two concerns that ZDNet's readers have voiced most often about Windows' readiness for hardened data center applications. On the people side, a lot of IT executives have written to me about how Microsoft-certified engineers are a dime a dozen; finding one that actually knows how to deploy Windows, let alone any operating system, in a data center environment, they say, is like finding a needle in a haystack. On the performance side, a big concern is Windows' ability to survive the rigors and demands of the data center in the way other industrial strength systems can.