From: Mike '/m' 


That article is quite the soap opera.  In the midst of all the slimy
politcal stuff, it is amazing that Microsoft still comes up looking even
slimier than the politicians.

 /m

On Wed, 22 Jan 2003 12:05:47 -0600, "Joe Barr"
 wrote:

>I like to think the stories on MS extortion in Austin and the TDCJ have
>something to do with a city finally finding the backbone to stand up to
>the bastards.
>
>http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2003-01-21-simdesk-cover_x.htm
>
>
>Microsoft loses showdown in Houston
>
>By Byron Acohido, USA TODAY
>
>HOUSTON ƒ ” The people who run this city recently heard a familiar pitch
>from Microsoft: Sign up for a multiyear, $12 million software licensing
>plan or face an audit exposing the city's use of software it hadn't paid
>for. Microsoft demonstrates new projects and upgrades as it tries to boost
>sales. By Elaine Thompson, AP
>
>Microsoft warned that the city could be slapped with stiff fines for using
>any Microsoft software for which it could not produce receipts.
>
>Scores of other businesses and public agencies, facing a similar dilemma,
>have agreed to the new licensing deals ƒ ” a linchpin of Microsoft's
>growth strategy.
>
>Not Houston.
>
>The nation's fourth-largest city rebuffed the offer and has embraced an
>obscure competitor called SimDesk. SimDesk delivers software over the
>Internet at a fraction of the cost of Microsoft's Office, a software suite
>used on 94% of America's office personal computers. Houston is giving
>SimDesk to tens of thousands of residents and businesses, free. And it has
>begun using SimDesk as an Office substitute on at least half the city's
>13,000 PCs. (Comparison: SimDesk vs. Office)

--- BBBS/NT v4.01 Flag-4