Said "Former Director of State IT services" in an ad that claimed he wouldn't convert Illinois to Linux because it was insufficiently reliable. Not exactly a ringing endorsement.

Having said which, this is not really bad news for either side. For Microsoft, this is actually good news. It's counter evidence for the next time they get called in over monopolistic practices, and reduces the chances of more fines from the EU.

Microsoft has to really grow up and become the kind of company that realises that competition from the same kind of product grows the pool. For Linux, the less niche it becomes, the more there is pressure to support, innovate and drive down cost of ownership (not cost of acquisition.) Therefore, as it generates a business ecosystem, its future is more assured.