Microsoft played a crucial role in popularizing this fact and by the end of the millennium it was the big fish in the industry. Though the development of free software was there during 50's and 60's but was quite unpopular. The idea of starting such a community began with Richard Stallman when he was denied permission to modify updates on LISP machines based on MIT's code and thus established GNU project. The modern era of Open Source began with the development of Netscape Communications Corporation. But that was too curbed brutally by Microsoft by bundling Internet Explorer with Windows. This was quite enough for the people to feel the danger of hypocrisy of bigger players of the market and thus why we have the present scenario.

But this article is neither in favour of Open Source and nor against it. We must realize that balancing between Proprietary Software and Open Source is much fruitful than denying any. We know how much damage Mozilla Firefox has made to Internet Explorer but that was crucial to make Microsoft feel that the development of Internet Explorer needs attention. To make matter worse there is another danger called Google Chrome which is posing a serious threat to Internet Explorer. I hope this will add to the development of entirely new version of Internet Explorer in coming days.

People may think this is the end of all and I think this is where we need to think further. We have seen enhancements to Internet Explorer but haven't seen significant improvements in Operating Systems. The level of danger and threat is quite minimal when it comes to Microsoft Windows. I mean no open source Operating System has posed a serious threat to Microsoft Windows. The reason which I see is the lack of awareness towards it or may be lack of technical background which it needs. Why Linux has to be so difficult to operate for a normal user? The answer lies with the Open Source Community.

Linux or other operating systems also lack support for most of the hardware. It's more difficult to use Linux on laptops than on desktops. Wireless communication support needs attention in Linux. The battery also quickly drains out in laptops while Linux is in use. These are some of the crucial issues of Software Industry which must be addressed quickly otherwise we will not see better Windows.

The reason why I am stressing on the use of Microsoft Windows and wants it to be better is that I see Open Source software as the battleground of cybercrime. Yes, this fact needs to be addressed too. Imagine a world where only Open Source Software lives and banks or other financial institutions relying only on them. The ever increasing number of cyber hackers which we see now will be twice or thrice or more.

If the source code is available for free then there is every chance of putting a malicious code with the software and thus creating a chaotic situation. We also know about the China's Red Army of Hackers which troubled Google for its existence in China. Now imagine the same with all open source software. Thus if we sum up all the issues we may not arrive at the proper conclusion of whether to go for Proprietary Software or make way for Open Source.

I also know the fact that Open Source addresses the 'Not Invented Here' (NIH) syndrome but to what extent and for how long? The community must start thinking on how things can come on track for them also otherwise we will be in a situation where both extremes will do harm to the end users and the source will be left open forever.