Breaking free

The City of Houston has said "thanks but no thanks" to Microsoft's Orwellian-named "Software Assurance Plan" and has chosen a low-cost ASP called SimDesk instead.  (Source: USA Today.  See also "Houston, We Have a Problem with Office" at C|Net's News.com.) 

Given the fact that internet connections don't always connect, using an ASP instead of locally-installed software may be a little chancy.  More corporate and governmental users will opt for Corel's WordPerfect Office suite, which has a normal pricing structure, or for the low-cost alternatives like StarOffice or its free, open-source cousin,  OpenOffice.   With Microsoft pushing its good customers away with its ridiculous pricing scheme, more and more of them are realizing that they do not have to be shackled to the Redmond behemoth. 

3:32:17 PM