You knew something like this was coming, didn't you? GartnerGroup analyst Michael Gartenberg says that "a large percentage of companies upgrading to Windows 2000" could be affected by heavy licensing fees that are "not up-front," according to CNET.

The issue involves the client access license which permits Windows 2000 desktop machines to connect to servers "and take advantage of programs like Active Directory," Gartenberg reports. This license fee is not advertised and costs $999 per computer, as opposed to $319 for the professional desktop version of Windows 2000! Another GartnerGroup analyst quoted in the article says, "There are probably less than 10 people in the world who really understand this--and that's because Microsoft (buries) it deep into their terms and conditions and make it very difficult to understand."

Microsoft's response (noted at length by writer Michael Kanellos) is that NT 4.0 already required such client access license fees and that this is nothing new. However: Microsoft is pushing a business model whereby large Unix servers are replaced with more numerous, cheaper Windows 2000 servers, and ach server will require its own copy of Windows 2000 with accompanying license fees. As the article relates, "because many Web sites install several hundred small servers, the bill for operating systems alone can run into the hundreds of thousands."

We think that the reply to this by Deborah Willingham, Microsoft's vice-president of marketing for its business and enterprise division is remarkable in its arrogance and hubris:

"Despite the costs, companies will adopt Windows 2000 over the rival, freely available Linux operating system because of the service and technical support that exists around Windows, Willingham asserted. 'I don't know of any organization that is going to put a 'mission-critical' application on an OS without a company to stand behind it,' she said."

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October 07, 2008