[Leaplist] FAA might ditch Vista for Linux

[ray]

http://www.informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=197800480


  FAA May Ditch Microsoft's Windows Vista And Office For Google And
  Linux Combo



    FAA chief information officer David Bowen said he's taking a close
    look at the Premier Edition of Google Apps as he mulls replacements
    for the agency's Windows XP-based desktop computers and laptops.



By _Paul McDougall_ <mailto:paulmcd at cmp.com>
InformationWeek 
<http://www.informationweek.com/;jsessionid=FJGEKVH1YFZJYQSNDLRCKHSCJUNN2JVN>

March 6, 2007 11:00 AM

March is coming in like a lion for Microsoft's public sector 
<http://www.techweb.com/encyclopedia/defineterm.jhtml?term=sector&x=&y=> 
business. Days after /InformationWeek/ reported that the Department of 
Transportation has placed a moratorium on upgrades to Windows 
<http://www.techweb.com/encyclopedia/defineterm.jhtml?term=Windows&x=&y=> 
Vista, Office 2007, and Internet Explorer 7, the top technology official 
at the Federal Aviation Administration revealed that he is considering a 
permanent ban on the Microsoft software 
<http://www.techweb.com/encyclopedia/defineterm.jhtml?term=software&x=&y=> 
in favor of a combination of Google's new online business applications 
running on Linux-based hardware.

In an interview, FAA chief information officer David Bowen said he's 
taking a close look at the Premier Edition of Google Apps as he mulls 
replacements for the agency's Windows XP-based desktop computers and 
laptops. Bowen cited several reasons why he finds Google 
<http://www.techweb.com/encyclopedia/defineterm.jhtml?term=Google&x=&y=> 
Apps attractive. "It's a different sort of computing strategy," he said. 
"It takes the desktop out of the way so you're running a very thin 
client. From a security and management standpoint that would have some 
advantages."

Google launched 
<http://www.informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=197007903> 
Google Apps Premier Edition last month at a price of $50 per user, per 
year. It features online e-mail, calendaring, messaging, and talk 
applications, as well as a word processor 
<http://www.techweb.com/encyclopedia/defineterm.jhtml?term=processor&x=&y=> 
and a spreadsheet. The launch followed Google's introduction of a 
similar suite aimed at consumers in August. The new Premier Edition, 
however, offers enhancements, including 24x7 support, aimed squarely at 
corporate and government environments.

Bowen said he's in talks with the aviation safety agency's main hardware 
supplier, Dell Computer, to determine if it could deliver Linux-based 
computers capable of accessing Google Apps through a non-Microsoft 
browser once the FAA's XP-based computers pass their shelf life. "We 
have discussions going on with Dell," Bowen said. "We're trying to 
figure out what our roadmap will be after we're no longer able to 
acquire Windows XP."

Bowen, however, said he has not definitely ruled out an FAA-wide upgrade 
to Windows Vista 
<http://www.techweb.com/encyclopedia/defineterm.jhtml?term=Windows%20Vista&x=&y=> 
and related software -- if Microsoft can satisfy his concerns over 
compatibility with the agency's existing applications and demonstrate 
why such a move would make financial sense given Google Apps's low 
price. "We have a trip to Microsoft scheduled for later this month," 
said Bowen.

Like the Department of Transportation 
<http://www.informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=197700789>, 
the FAA -- technically under DOT but managed separately -- has its own 
moratorium in place on upgrades to Windows Vista, Internet Explorer 7, 
and Microsoft Office 
<http://www.techweb.com/encyclopedia/defineterm.jhtml?term=Microsoft%20Office&x=&y=> 
2007. Among other things, Bowen said the FAA's copies of IBM's Lotus 
Notes 
<http://www.techweb.com/encyclopedia/defineterm.jhtml?term=Lotus%20Notes&x=&y=> 
software don't work properly on test PCs running Windows Vista.

Bowen's compatibility concerns, combined with the potential cost of 
upgrading the FAA's 45,000 workers to Microsoft's next-generation 
desktop environment, could make the moratorium permanent. "We're 
considering the cost to deploy [Windows Vista] in our organization. But 
when you consider the incompatibilities, and the fact that we haven't 
seen much in the way of documented business value, we felt that we 
needed to do a lot more study," said Bowen.

Because of Google Apps' sudden entry into the desktop productivity 
market, what once would have been a routine decision at the FAA to 
eventually upgrade to Microsoft's latest software is now firmly up in 
the air. With similar debates doubtless playing out at other government 
agencies -- and in the private sector -- Microsoft is going to have to 
work a lot harder than in past years convincing customers to follow its 
well worn path of new releases and follow-on patches.


-- 
Raymond L. Brunkow
5th Degree Black Belt
Chief Instructor & Owner
Sun State Martial Arts
407-786-2525
http://www.SunStateMartialArts.us

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