Microsoft's new licensing terms have encouraged some firms to
consider other operating systems
A growing number of Microsoft customers are considering moving from
Windows to open source software, such as Linux with Sun
Microsystems' Star Office, as a way of avoiding the software
giant's licensing changes.
Microsoft's new licensing agreements, announced in May, end the
trade in Upgrade Advantage terms and introduce a Software Assurance
programme that users and analysts believe could double costs
through shorter upgrade cycles. Microsoft has argued that 80% of
users will see licences fall or remain unchanged.
The company also introduced subscription licensing, which gives
users access to the latest versions of its software for a
continuing annual charge. The new terms will come into effect in
February next year.
A confidential survey of the 500 Club, an invitation- only club of
senior IT directors from the UK's leading companies, revealed that
93% of respondents believed Microsoft licences would cost more as a
result of the changes. Consequently, 38% of respondents said they
were "actively making contingency plans".
Many of these IT directors said they were looking at moving to an
open source desktop, using the Linux operating system and Star
Office, Sun's office productivity suite - both of which are free -
as an alternative to Microsoft software.
"We are considering alternative software such as Sun's Star Office,
and are also planning to defer acquisition of later Microsoft
products for as long as possible," said a respondent, one of many
who said this.
Simon Moores, chairman of The Research Group, a body representing
software users, predicted that the Linux market will boom as a
result of Microsoft's actions. "I think Linux may well find itself
there as a protest vote," he said. "In the long term this could be
a real threat to Microsoft."
Companies often feel trapped with Microsoft software - caught
between the rock of Microsoft's challenging upgrade cycles and the
hard place of moving to an entirely new operating environment.
However, some service companies see this dilemma as an opportunity.
Business and technology consultancy SMG Consulting has announced a
migration package designed to help companies move to open source
desktops.
The company said that by moving to open source with its migration
package, companies can cut overall desktop costs by half.
These savings would be achieved through lower hardware costs -
Linux with Star Office needs much less disc space, Ram and lower
specification processors - and lower support costs, SMG said.
Alex MacCaskill, account manager at SMG, said many companies have
registered an interest in migrating to open source with the
company. "We have spoken to a major global bank that is saying it
wants Microsoft out across the board," he said.
MacCaskill also said SMG has been in touch with the Cabinet Office,
regarding changing software across government. "It thinks open
source is a good idea," he said.
This could prove to be particularly relevant given the UK
Government's close relationship with Microsoft. The Government
Gateway - the middleware designed to allow different departments to
talk to each other - is based on Microsoft software.
Case Study: Linux in a small business
Abrantes, a Web development and training company, has moved to
Linux for most of its IT functions.
The company said it has to work with Linux when creating e-commerce
Web sites, but "quickly realised that it could offer other benefits
beyond being a simple Web development platform".
It now uses Linux for file and print servers, development database
and Web server. It also uses the open source operating system
across its desktop environment and as a testing platform for Web
sites.
One of the biggest deciding factors was cost, the company said.
Since Linux is free, it eliminates the software licensing costs
associated with a Microsoft Windows 2000 or NT server.
Reliability was also a factor. "Our experiences with Linux have
shown it to be virtually indestructible. It never crashes, it just
works," the company said.
The company uses Linux on a single PC as both a server and a
desktop operating system. This would not be advisable using
Windows, but the company said it has no problems under Linux.
The company said Linux appears in the Network Neighbourhood just
the same as any other machine on the network. It uses it as a file
and print server in this respect. The Web server allows creation of
new Web sites "quite easily" and the database server can be
operated using Microsoft Access as a front- end, the company
said.
The company did say that using Linux as a desktop operating system
was "problematic". The main problem was the lack of compatibility
with Word and Excel files. However, for internal documents this was
not an issue because Star Office for Windows is similar enough to
Word and Excel to allow users to adjust to it for simple
tasks.
Telling it like it is: our readers speak
The Computer
Weekly 500 Club survey reveals considerable confusion about the new
arrangements, and a substantial proportion of IT directors actively
engaged in contingency planning. These statements give a flavour of
the responses.
Respondents wanted clarification on:
"The legal position as to whether Microsoft has the right to
unilaterally alter licence agreements with
companies"
"The many 'gotchas' in the small print, particularly with the
SQL server options, which still have a deadline of 1 October
2001"
"Is all Microsoft software implicated?"
What will happen to existing Select and Enterprise
subscriptions?
"Reasons; commercial policy; enhancements as a direct result of
uplift"
"Microsoft claims that there will be no or limited increases in
charges." "It should provide transparent examples"
What Contingency Plans are you making?
"Stay with NT4/Office 97 longer." "Stay with Office 2000 and
migrate if Microsoft does not make a U-turn"
"Considering alternative software such as Sun's Star Office, and
planning to defer acquisition of later Microsoft products for as
long as possible." "Reviewing Sun's Star Office for non-essential
users." "Investigating Star Office and Linux on the
desktop""Re-evaluating Office product use"
"Looking at the alternatives - yet more cost and effort
required"
"Evaluating alternatives and/or staying in current Office
97/2000 installation""Evaluating migration to Linux." "Further exploration of the
Linux alternatives." "Considering a greater use of
Linux"
"Having to re-think IT purchasing strategy to minimise
impact"
Other comments
"A more irritating problem was a
recent situation surrounding a PC replacement project. We took
delivery of 200 PCs with W2000 Pro pre-installed. We would have
preferred to overwrite this installation with W95 for a short
period of about four months and then re-apply 2000. Microsoft would
require approximately £100 per PC for the re-application of W2000
over W95 in this situation. This added £20,000 to the project. We
took the risk and stayed with W2000. Very irritating and somewhat
exploitative."
Further Information
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