Total Vista Recap, and a Bit of Licensing How-To
If you can't get enough news about Vista, or need to hone your upgrade plans,
make sure to
check
out what Scott Bekker has to say. Bekker walks through the licensing implications,
how best to work the numbers and how to avoid the activation pitfalls!
Redmond and Europe: We Cool?
The European Union fought like Conquistadors against XP, Windows Server, Vista
and operating systems to be named later, claiming they violated all manner of
antitrust law.
Despite an all-new wave of products, Redmond is still dealing with the aftermath
of EU decisions made years ago, like a March 2004 ruling that claimed Microsoft
leveraged its desktop monopoly to gain share in server operating systems. The
company gave out over 8,000 pages of documents attempting to prove that Windows
Server is as open to third parties as it is to Redmond itself. If you want to
read Microsoft's obtuse explanation of the situation, go here.
Just Talking About Linux Can Save You Money
There is a raging and too often specious debate over which operating system
-- Windows Server or Linux -- offers a better payback, or in tech-speak, ROI.
Putting that aside, it's arguable that just threatening to move to Linux can
save millions of dollars when negotiating a Microsoft contract. Our resident Microsoft
negotiator Scott Braden wrote a recent
column explaining exactly how the threat of Linux, real or feigned, can
knock a bunch of dough off your next contract.
About the Author
Doug Barney is editor in chief of Redmond magazine and the VP, editorial director of Redmond Media Group.