[link|http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=8658|Microsoft Japan software sales hit by Linux shift].

REPORTS SAID THAT Microsoft's Japanese subsidiary is being hit by weakened sales of operating system, groupware and other server related products.

According to Nikkei.net, sales of those products are down by 20 per cent in the second half of last year, leading to an overall drop of five per cent compared to the same period a year before.

And one of the reasons for the decline is the success of Linux, the report adds. The Japanese government wants to promote open source software, and has allocated a billion yen this year to its project.

The wire claims that the Japanese government believes open source software is far more cost effective than the Microsoft software.

And apparently the IT folk in several different government departments like the fact they can see all the source code.

This is the entire the inquirer article.