Its not a secret - open source software is spreading fast as thousands of people embrace it on a daily basis. Given the choice would you rather spend hundreds of pounds/dollars to Microsoft or spend 30 minutes of your time downloading a similar open source program?

I have to be honest and say that as far as open source programs go I’m not a regular user myself. My OS is Windows XP, I use Photoshop for my graphic work and MS Office for the majority of my document-related work. I could however have saved myself a good chunk of money by replacing these all with open source solutions and that is exactly what thousands of people worldwide are doing.

In the past it was mainly just large companies and well funded organizations that were developing high end applications - now however, its a completely different story. From students to professional programmers, more and more open source programs are being developed and released to the public for no charge. Although this has no major immediate effect on companies like Microsoft and Adobe, give it a bit of time and it could give them some big problems.

Closed source software, but more specifically those which carry a hefty price tag are slowly reducing in user numbers as open source applications move in. Personally I can see open source applications dominating the industry within the next 10 years or so.