“The UK computer agency Becta is advising schools not to sign licensing agreements with Microsoft because of alleged anti-competitive practices,” BBC News reports.
“The government agency has complained to the Office of Fair Trading,” The Beeb reports. “It says talks with Microsoft have not resolved ‘fundamental concerns’ about academic licensing and about Office 2007 and the Vista operating system.”
The Beeb reports, “Microsoft says it wants as many people as possible to benefit from its technology at the best possible price.”
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Simon” for the heads up.]
MacDailyNews Take: In order to truly benefit from Microsoft’s “technology,” people should simply avoid it like the plague it is, thereby achieving the best possible price.
ITS HERE! Courier delivery, snazzy box, my machine feels snappier already! Installer’s last minute took about ten minutes though.
Ahhhhhh! I love the smell of an OS release in the morning!
ducnan,
Jealous.
Beeb’s the one to talk! They don’t support Mac. Bunch of poofters.
@ron
Bunch of breeders.
What fun! Is name calling before lunch as bad as a drink before lunch? Probably just as addictive.
Hey, if it wasn’t for breeders, you wouldn’t be here.
Here’s another reason to avoid MS like the plague – Once they get a foothold their networking infrastructure is like a fast acting virus that takes over everything, including the minds of human beings in close proximity – You think I’m kidding?
Here’s my advice to anyone even thinking about implementing anything MS – Don’t Do It… Just Don’t Do It. And if you have a rare opportunity to break free than Just Do It – Period. If for some unexplainable reason you have to run Windows on a desktop here or there, it absolutely does not mean that you have to base your entire network foundation on MS products – period. You do have choices. Find IT pros that offer you choices other than MS, especially at the networking infrastructure level. It’s imperative for you if you want to be able to try other products in the future, it’s imperative for your sanity, and it’s imperative if you want to save thousands per year for small and medium size network structures, and if you want to save tens of thousands per year for medium to large network structures.
I hope the message is clear – Do Not Build Your Computing Systems On Or Around MS Products, Or Around MS Partner Products That Require A MS Foundation. Once You Get Locked In You’ll Almost Never Get Out.
THERE ARE CHOICES – AND I DON’T JUST MEAN APPLE (EVEN THOUGH THAT WOULD BE MY PERSONAL RECOMMENDATION).
Why do we even call them viruses. When they afflict Windoze we SHOULD be using the word ‘plague’.
“Microsoft says it wants as many people as possible to benefit from its technology at the best possible price.”
I almost laughed at this one. Benefits?? That’s mediocre comedy at its finest. When I think of all the businesses that are hindered by Windows and its server OS, I just hang my head in despair.
MDN word: “Progress” is another word for Leopard
I believe the phrase I’m looking for is “No shit, Sherlock!”
I’m currently doing a comparative quote for an IT customer: one which continues their commitment to Windows (although it upgrades (?) them to the full servers and CALS instead of Small Business Server) and one which “switches” them to Xserve and Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard Server.
The total software costs for the Macintosh solution are the backup software and Kerio’s fully-featured e-mail server, because the Xserve comes out of the box with unlimited Client Access Licences (CALS). The software costs for the Windows solution are in excess of UK20,000 because my customer a) needs to run servers with more than 16GB of RAM (have you seen the latest version of Exchange?) and b) my customer needs to run the Enterprise version of Exchange.
I’m a nice guy with a sense of humour, but £20K strikes me as a punchline that simply isn’t funny. Furthermore, every time my customer deigns to expand his business by employing a new member of staff, he has to come up with another £360. Except, because this is Microsoft, he has to do five licenses at a time which means that he has to cough up £1800.00.
There are hardly any Macs in schools in England. Maybe some in private schools and the occasional state school but that’s it.
My son’s music teacher ordered some Mac Minis from the school’s IT department so she could set them up with Logic and Garage Band and they conveniently ordered PC’s instead.
Crap innit!
They said she ordered a bunch of PCs when she inquired after her Macs.
Someone from Apple UK really needs to go round to the local LEA reps and show them what Macs can do for our kids.
Spock,
Are you reading this?
British Mac Head: It’s not all doom and gloom in England – it depends where you look. I’m a local authority education adviser and a long-term Mac user. I see quite an upsurge in schools’ Mac use and do what I can to support and encourage it. Local dealers are supportive with education discounts and advice, but I do agree that Apple UK could do a lot more.
“There are hardly any Macs in schools in England. Maybe some in private schools and the occasional state school but that’s it.”
Not true. <i>Really<i> not true. A simple example:-
http://www.apple.com/uk/education/profiles/isleofman/
I work on a British University campus which is just about 100% Mac. Delightful.