| IBM Germany denies Linux-over-Vista decision |
Mar. 10, 2006
[Updated Mar. 10] -- IBM Germany has refuted a Groklaw report that the division has decided to migrate Windows desktops to Linux rather than upgrade them to Vista. Groklaw's story was based on statements reportedly made by an IBM sales executive in a presentation at LinuxForum 2006.
This morning, Hans Rehm, of IBM Germany's Press Relations department, emailed DesktopLinux.com the following, somewhat ambiguous, statement:
1. There have been reports that IBM does not plan to use the next version of Windows, Microsoft Vista. Is that true?
No. We are now in early stages of evaluating Vista. We have not made any
decisions on it yet.
IBM continues to have a strong relationship with Microsoft. Our customers look to us for solutions and services on a variety of operating systems, including Windows.
2. I've heard that your contract for Microsoft Office expired in June, 2005. Do you plan to renew the contract?
As a business principle, we don't discuss our supplier contracts.
The remainder of our original story about the Groklaw report appears below . . .
According to the Groklaw report, during his presentation on IBM's involvement with open source, Andreas Pleschek, who heads open source and Linux technical sales across North East Europe for IBM, said:
"...IBM has canceled their contract with Microsoft as of October this year. That means that IBM will not use Windows Vista for their desktops. Beginning from July, IBM employees will begin using IBM Workplace on their new, Red Hat-based platform. Not all at once -- some will keep using their present Windows versions for a while. But none will upgrade to Vista."
IBM Workplace uses Lotus Notes for mail and calendar, and Firefox as its browser. For an office suite, IBM employees use OpenOffice.org.
Read the rest of the Groklaw.net story here.
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