Dear MS, prepare to have your ears burned...
I worked at my base's Information Management Office (i.e. computer center) in Korea.
How is it that a military (AAFES) contractor built my computer to my specs, charged me for all the software--including $200+ for WinXP Pro--and delivered it on base in Korea, and now I am supposed to DONATE nearly $200 for software for which I already paid?
Microsoft, you are a greedy and paranoid corporation. I pledge to continually advocate the removal of MS products (OSs and applications) from DoD and government systems. It's time we moved toward something more open-source and cost-effective anyway. I have secured Unix syustems in the past--I think they still have Irix (and other OSs) on some nets.
In short, I won't pay for something twice. Furthermore, I won't be forced to pay the bill for software counterfeiters so clever they manage to fool a very sharp technician and the U.S. Government!
I might have been more offended and angry at some point in the past--but I can't recall when.
Microsoft, you have a problem: you're bloated, you're going to lose the battle to own global computing (it's all moving toward dynamic web content), and every time you drop a bomb on (previously) loyal customers you're being penny wise and pound foolish! I'll be reformatting quite a few things ASAP. I sure hope my new OS will support most of the work I do.
All I can say is "Thanks for giving me the impetus to finally switch."
My engineering and computer science professors were right. Microsoft is a scourge on an industry that could have accomplished far more under freer market conditions.
