Neelie Kroes. Photograph: AP
The long-running war of attrition between Microsoft and Europe took another twist today when competition commissioner Neelie Kroes told the continent's governments that they should spend their IT cash on open systems.
According to the New York Times, Kroes - who has fined Microsoft twice for a sum total of almost €1.2bn - didn't name Microsoft, but made her intent pretty clear.
"I know a smart business decision when I see one -- choosing open standards is a very smart business decision indeed," Ms. Kroes told a conference in Brussels. "No citizen or company should be forced or encouraged to choose a closed technology over an open one."
She praised the German city of Munich for using software based on open standards, along with the German Foreign Ministry and the Gendarmerie Nationale, France's national police force.
I doubt that's enough to change anyone's mind, but politicians looking to reduce state spending on IT have been making goo-goo eyes at the idea of Open Source Software - even the Cameroons have praised open standards.
· For some further reading, you can check out some of Jack's previous posts, or read our interview with Neelie Kroes
