Under the Security Cooperation Program, Microsoft will advise participating government agencies on network security issues in an effort to try to anticipate or mitigate security lapses, said Gerri Elliott, corporate vice-president of Microsoft's worldwide public-sector unit.
Governments will get information on existing security flaws as well as advanced information on upcoming product patches, which also means getting information on vulnerabilities before the general public does.
"We will give them information on what we know," Giorgio Vanzini, director of government engagement in Microsoft's Platforms Business Management unit.
For the past two to three years, the Redmond, Washington-based software maker has launched a multi-faceted diplomatic offensive to expand internationally and stem the growing interest in Linux and open source software among government buyers.
Security has been a headache for customers large and small. In the Government Security Program, Microsoft agreed to allow countries to examine the company's source code as a way to allay fears that "backdoors" might exist that could compromise security.
Microsoft will also help local governments on public awareness programmes and better securing their own networks. Participation is free.
The programme was announced at Microsoft's Government Leaders Forum in Prague, a quarterly conference for government officials that hops between regions.
Fighting open source
Although the programme was mostly designed for large developing nations like China, 36 national governments have signed up for the program and three more will be announced soon, she said.
The company has also created educational programmes that let emerging nations in Africa and elsewhere buy copies of Microsoft Office for educational institutions for a few pounds. Chairman Bill Gates and chief executive Steve Ballmer regularly visit with national leaders like China's Jiang Zemin. Stanislav Gross, the prime minister of the Czech Republic, for example, opened a Microsoft conference with Gates.
The company even invests in overseas start-ups and joint ventures, something Microsoft has largely stopped doing in the US.
Giving a government agency advance notice of security problems for free derives from the role government agencies play, Elliot said.
Government agencies, however, have also been some of the most active in promoting open source software, both as a way to cut costs and promote local companies. South Korea has said that it wants 20 percent of the desktops and 30 percent of the servers at government agencies and universities to run open source software.
In Europe, the local government of Vienna is moving forward with a voluntary open source programme aimed at cutting software acquisition costs.
Although announcements by governments to embrace open source software have grabbed headlines and have given the open source movement momentum, some have stalled. A migration toward open source software with City of Paris has been sidelined for now because of the costs involved in switching from Microsoft to open source software.
Hey are you happy after attacking Linux, Mr. **** Bill Gates??? Are you happy with this article? Read this !!!
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-3513_22-5625667.html
Are you happy? You should say this, man: "Hey everyone, we're liars, we're stupid, we're hypocrites, you can't trust us, our products suck, we desperately cling to FUD, we can't compete head to head with Linux, and we suck so bad you need to take pity on us!!! - Avoid us like the plague!!"
Read my oppinion at:
http://www.zdnet.com/5208-10535-0.html?forumID=1&threadID=9030&messageID=180583&start=-1
Or here it is if you busy attacking Linux with you bull****!!!!!
All I can say now is: Microsoft and all of its friends is suck. They just try to attack Linux by saying that Linux is unscalable and have many security risk. Just remember how bad MS-Windows are? How bad the stability and the security of Windows is? And how Microsoft drain all people's money by selling in high price? Many people wasting their money just to buy a very bad, very unsafe, very expensive Operating System. And now they (especially Microsoft) try to attack Linux as the free Operating System. Saying that Linux is bad? I'd use Linux for a long time and didn't have any problem with it till now. I can open the protected files (private files) in my harddisk, my NTFS harddisk which the OS is Windows XP SP2, with my Linux. It proof how bad the security of Windows is. And Windows have so many bug, security hole, broken things in it. PnP in Windows? Change it Plug and Pray. USB? My USB just become Universal Serial BUG in Windows. Microsoft just a plagiator, they take the concept of Mac Aqua MacOSX's LOOK N FEEL. Changing it to Luna Theme and get a popularity with it. How bad and how suck the way of Microsoft is. Lucky Apple didn't sue Microsoft at court for copying their concept. And now they say Linux is bla...bla... because they can't block the popularity of Linux nowadays. They (Microsoft C.S.) afraid of Linux will be the leader, so they try to make any bad issue about it. How a shame... Linux is the best!!!!!
Don't you ashame??? Attacking the best OS we ever had?!
Comparing with your **** OS??? You just a PLAGIATOR and J-E-R-K and LOSER!!!!! You can't win against Linux. You **** man!!!! You afraid to compete head to head with Linux!!!! All you can do just posting and saying anything that is a bull****