Microsoft is pissing off their faithful
[link|http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=111306|Oblivious No More]
"The thing that is really sad about this whole affair is that Auto Warehousing Company is virtually a dedicated Microsoft shop, due to my (prior) professional respect for your company," Frantz wrote. "As I have spoken at global conferences and been quoted many times in the IT trade press, I have reinforced that AWC is a Microsoft shop and that we are proud of that fact. It is extremely unfortunate that it is now clear that your many detractors are actually the ones that are correct."
...
On the home front, an IT director in New York whose experience closely mirrored that of Frantz recalled how he offered to revive a legacy Microsoft Systems Management Server (SMS) installation to run an internal scan to demonstrate his compliance. Microsoft's perplexing response, the IT director said, was that it didn't trust the information he'd get from SMS and that it would be too time-consuming to validate the information's accuracy.
"As Microsoft continues these types of practices," the IT director noted, "it makes a much stronger case for me to push more and more of our systems toward Apple and Linux, which I've been doing for the last two to three years."
Indeed, many other readers wrote to say that this case has pushed them over the edge and that they plan to re-evaluate alternatives to Microsoft. You can bet Microsoft now recognizes the ramifications of its actions. Obliviousness carries a very high price.
