Army to Gates: Halt the free software | CNET News.com:
Since the launch of Office 2003 last year, Microsoft has given out tens of thousands of free copies of its flagship software, which retails for about $500, to workers at its biggest customers. The giveaway was expanded to government workers this year, but ethics offices at the Department of the Interior and Department of Defense have said the offers constitute unauthorized gifts and must be returned.
The Department of the Army went a step further, calling on Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates to stop sending the software to Army personnel.
[ . . . ]
A Microsoft representative said giving away the software is a way to let some customers experience new features. “The goal of the program was to give customers a taste of the software and allow them to learn how it might be of use to their organizations in a positive way,” Microsoft spokesman Keith Hodson said.
Although Office has captured more than 90 percent of the market for productivity software, convincing customers to upgrade to the latest versions of Office has become a growing challenge for the company. And upgrades are essential to Microsoft: Office and Windows produce substantially all the company’s profits.
And I’m sure that when government employee Andrew uses the new version to open a document and then sends it to his colleague Betty, she can open it with her older version, right? And then when she uses her “free upgrade” and modifies the file, Claude finds he has to install it, as well, or the project he owes to his boss, Danielle, won’t be finished . . . .
I’ve used the phrase Trojan Horse today, already, haven’t I?