Is it OT to share stories of MS getting dudded?

[Les Posen]

 From my Yahoo homepage, a Reuters Technology story that, together with  
iTunes Music store continuing sales, seems like good Apple news for me:  
Switching to Linux may impact the likelihood of Apple hardware sales  
(esp notebooks), or am I being hopelessly optimistic??

I have listed here the story's opening sentences, and a few statements  
for brevity. It won't be hard to track the full story (the URL looked  
like it would break into dozens of pieces had I copied it)


Microsoft Loses City of Munich Deal to Linux

Wed May 28,12:38 PM ET

By Hans Nagl

MUNICH (Reuters) - The city of Munich said on Wednesday it would switch  
14,000 computers from Microsoft's Windows operating system to rival  
Linux ( news -web sites ) in a deal estimated to be worth tens of  
millions of euros.

The decision is a blow to U.S. giant Microsoft, whose chief executive  
Steve Ballmer had personally campaigned for Microsoft's counter-offer  
to the city, based on Windows XP

Microsoft has created two funds to discount its products against the  
emerging Linux software, which is eating into its most profitable  
business.

"This strategic decision makes Munich less dependent on one IT supplier  
and sets a trend toward more competition," Munich mayor Christian Ude  
said in a statement.

Analysts said Munich's decision to choose open source software, which  
means Linux, was a breakthrough.


"It is one of the largest desktop migrations to Linux ever seen," said  
Gartner Dataquest analyst Nikos Drakos in London.

Linux suppliers welcomed the move by of one of Germany's largest  
cities, where many of the country's biggest corporations have their  
headquarters.

"You can compare this to the fall of the Berlin Wall," said Richard  
Seibt, Chief Executive of Linux software provider Suse. Suse is bidding  
for the Linux contract together with International Business Machines  
Corp.

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