Microsoft Takes on Linux in Ad Campaign - ' Page Two ' (
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But Taylors plan to provide customers with "objective third-party research and facts," much of which is paid for or sponsored by Microsoft itself, has not always been that well-received.
In fact, after Forrester Researchs Giga Information Group unit went public in September with a research study that was paid for by Microsoft and found that Microsoft offered a cost advantage over J2EE/Linux as a development platform for certain portal-type applications, the research firm later said it would no longer publicize any similar future studies.
To read the full story on Gigas research study, click here.
Microsoft has also been losing many high-profile customers to Linux, many of them governments and governmental agencies and departments. Just last month the Israeli government said it would encourage the development of lower-priced alternatives to Microsoft software in an effort to help expand computer use by the public.
The governments of Britain, Brazil, Japan, South Korea, China, South Africa and Russia are also all exploring open source alternatives to Microsoft, while federal agencies in Germany, France and China are all already using or considering open source alternatives.
But Microsoft has been fighting back and actively been lobbying governments around the world not to embrace open source applications and Linux.
To that end, Microsoft last January announced a new global initiative to provide governments around the world with access to Windows source code under its Government Security Program, designed to "address the unique security requirements of governments and international organizations throughout the world."
