| SPECIAL REPORT: Study says embedding Windows costs less than embedding Linux |
Jul. 16, 2003
[Updated 2:00 pm PDT] -- Embedded development projects based on Microsoft's "Windows Embedded" operating system platforms (specifically, Windows CE .NET and Windows XP Embedded) are completed 43% faster and at 68% lower cost, on average, compared with similar projects using Embedded Linux, according to a report released today by market research firm Embedded Market Forecasters.
The study, titled Total Cost of Development: A comprehensive cost estimation framework for evaluating embedded development platforms, derives its quantitative conclusions from a cost-based framework for comparing embedded operating system development alternatives that was developed by the report's author, Dr. Jerry Krasner. "The 'Total Cost of Development' framework helps embedded device manufacturers assess and estimate software costs to enhance design results and minimize financial risk," said Krasner.
The report includes data from a survey of 100 manufacturers using 32-bit processors in a range of embedded projects and applications -- 50 using various implementations of embedded Linux, and 50 using Microsoft's Windows Embedded platforms (Windows CE .NET and Windows XP Embedded). The devices and applications included in the source data reportedly covered consumer electronics, handheld computers, industrial controllers, network gateways, point-of-sale kiosks, set-top boxes, thin clients, and others. The report estimates "total cost of development" for each project by multiplying the average embedded design project time-to-market by the software engineering team size and cost.
"While there exist an understandable enthusiasm and interest in using Linux for embedded designs as expressed from a number of OEMs, this does not translate into lower cost or faster development solutions," writes Krasner, in the executive summary of the report. "The data indicate that rich integrated commercial operating systems and development environments such as Windows Embedded (Windows XP Embedded and Windows CE.NET) provide a clear total cost of development advantage to embedded software developers," Krasner adds.
Key findings of the report
According to Krasner, some of the key findings of the study are . . . - Time to Market: Windows Embedded design projects were started and brought to market in 8.1 months on average, versus 14.3 months for an Embedded Linux project. 43% faster project development with Windows Embedded.
- Software engineering resources: The average software engineering team size for Windows Embedded projects was 7.9 people, versus 14.2 people for an Embedded Linux project. 44% smaller software engineering teams with Windows Embedded.
- Total Cost of Development: The estimated average total cost of development for a Windows Embedded design project was $480,000, versus $1.5 million for an Embedded Linux project. 68% lower total cost of development with Windows Embedded. (The salaries for an Embedded Windows developer and an Embedded Linux developer were assumed to be the same for purposes of the analysis.)
"Embedded Linux can be effective in distinct scenarios, but does not broadly translate into lower cost or faster development," commented Krasner. "Respondent data consistently demonstrated that the Windows Embedded set of operating system and integrated development environments provided a clear and substantial time to market and cost advantage to developers. Windows CE .NET and Windows XP Embedded appear to deliver a significant total cost of development advantage due to their greater degree of maturity, feature-richness, componentization, integrated tool chain, and parallel development process."
Origin of the report
The report was funded, in part, by Microsoft. "Microsoft paid me for my time to develop the framework and to analyze the data from a very reputable, very large, third party," Krasner told WindowsForDevices.com editor Rick Lehrbaum. Although he declined to disclose the specific "third party" which provided the data, Krasner emphasized that it was a highly reputable market research firm of a size comparable to Gartner Dataquest or IDC.
According to Lehrbaum, Krasner said Microsoft approached him about producing the report because he had been publishing anecdotal evidence for some time that indicated that the total cost of using Linux in embedded projects was much higher than was generally understood.
Krasner said his sense that using embedded Linux might be more costly than using embedded Windows grew from a number of conversations with company executives who were disappointed with their experiences with using (or trying to use) embedded Linux in their development projects. In attempting to quantify those executives' concerns, and provide what he felt would be a better way to show the true project development costs, he developed the "Total Cost of Development" framework, Krasner said.
Executive summary -- download of full report
An executive summary of the report, with a link to download the full report, are available here:
Total Cost of Development:
A comprehensive cost estimation framework for evaluating
embedded development platforms
Update: Clarification from Dr. Krasner
Subsequent to publishing this story, WindowsForDevices.com received the following statement from Dr. Krasner . . . Regarding your question as to who paid for the study (obviously someone had to have) we have made the following statement to the press:
"Dr. Jerry Krasner, an authority on the embedded marketplace, was paid by Microsoft to develop a cost estimation framework for evaluating embedded development platforms. Due to the long standing debate as to whether open source operating systems offered a cost advantage over commercially available OSes, a comparison between embedded Linux and Embedded Windows was highly instructive. As such an effort had never been undertaken, the intention was to create a framework that was applicable to all embedded operating systems. Dr. Krasner hopes that other RTOS vendors use this framework for their own internal use.
Dr. Krasner was motivated to have a framework made available to embedded developers and OEM executives for whom the total cost of development was an important consideration in the selection of an OS and a development environment.
He believes that these results will be beneficial to embedded Linux vendors as well. Since development costs are not a Linux strong point, they can now concentrate on developing a more realistic value proposition that can appeal to embedded developers and OEM executives as well."
(Click here for further information)
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