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Israel v. Microsoft, Next Round

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the a-tough-guy-eh? dept.

hodet writes "From Haaretz.com, in predictable fashion, looks like a little tough bargaining with Microsoft is all that is needed to get your way. As many predicted after this story, looks like all you have to do is threaten to move to an OSS alternative to make them relent. Maybe it's time to stop getting excited about every little announcement that comes out." The upshot of the story is that Microsoft is willing to split the components of Office in order to sell it to the Israeli government's Finance Ministry. Reader blunte, though, links to a story that discounts the importance of MS's move: "Israel re-iterates: No More MS Software. This is round two. MS has made an effort to reconcile with Israel, and Israel still says No. Israel govt's purchases account for 3-4% of MS Israel's annual revenue."

5 of 464 comments (clear)

  1. downturn for M$? by SHEENmaster · · Score: 5, Funny

    First they hit their first flat quarter, and then Israel tells them to fuck off. Next thing you know, some fat pervert in a butterfly suit will be without a job.

    --
    You can't judge a book by the way it wears its hair.
  2. Split the components of Office? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    On the box they used to be shaped like jigsaw puzzle pieces, it can't be hard to separate them.

    1. Re:Split the components of Office? by Haeleth · · Score: 5, Funny

      Microsoft dumps a vat of tar to keep their's together.

      No, Microsoft would never use tar. They use a proprietary file format called CAB.

  3. Re:According to the article... by optikSmoke · · Score: 5, Funny
    ...this is probably standard practice for large Microsoft contracts.

    Indeed, and it goes like this:

    MS: So, we're going to sell you our lock-in software at inflated prices because you obviously have no other alternative; then be prepared for a mandatory accelerating upgrade cycle combined with price hikes.

    Customer: So.... we were thinking maybe of using open-source softw-

    MS: We can do software individually wrapped with gold foil and a complementary kiss on the ass.

    Customer: SOLD!

  4. Re:I wonder if... by commodoresloat · · Score: 5, Funny
    What were Israel's specific complaints against MS?

    Israeli policy is never to negotiate with terrorists.