Looking to lock-in
It was suggested a few months ago that Microsoft’s anti–pirate strategy — withholding non–security patches unless you bought a licence — might backfire on them it could make users more inclined to look at free alternatives. Now, Microsoft has provoked ire with an announcement that Vista “Enterprise Edition” will only be available to customers who also sign up to to their maligned Software Assurance programme.
Bearing in mind the constituency of IT opinion that a major exodus in the direction of the penguin will follow the release of Vista as businesses reappraise their software strategy in the face of major upgrade / migration costs, this new headache for customers can only be helpful to Linux.