Not so log ago Unix was almost universally disparaged as a platform that is slowly but surely heading for the dust bin, a dim light that is soon to be stomped out by better-than-sliced-bread Windows and then Linux. Well, even in the dark times of the global recession Unix is actually looking like a come-back-kid. The fresh off the press IDC Worldwide Server Quarterly survey is painting a very interesting picture indeed with Unix easily eclipsing both Windows and Linux in terms of generated revenues and growth:

• The UNIX market (excluding Linux) saw very strong growth Quarter over Quarter (QoQ), with a revenue increase of 30.4% ($3,741M to $4,877M) and a unit increase of 8.3% (114,845 to 124,346).
• UNIX (excluding Linux) was the largest OS segment by revenue last quarter, eclipsing Windows, which slipped to #2. Also on the processor front RISC saw a QoQ 32.7% increase in revenue and a 15.3% increase in units shipped.
• Whether this marks a return to the more premium UNIX platforms from vendors like Sun and IBM remains to be seen. But either way it represents a healthy trend in the UNIX/RISC market.

It is hard to provide an easy interpretation for this phenomenon, which goes against the grain with most of the pat industry analysts' predictions - both Linux and Windows slowed down and Unix accelerated (relatively speaking). My interpretation would be that this situation may be an indication that both Windows and Linux have spent enough time in the market to show their true value (or lack of thereof) failing to provide a sufficient business case against tried and true Unix platforms entrenched in the high end and mission critical segments. Unix lives yet another day and lives quite well I have to say.