“Yes, we’ll allow you to use that voucher for computer training.”
No, they won’t – quite. They’ll allow you to use the voucher for computer training on Microsoft products, but not (for example) Linux equivalents.
This is a comment from Microsoft’s representatives:
to announce the company’s donation of 30,000 vouchers for people in the state to learn new computer skills, positioning themselves for better jobs.
excerpted from http://www.techflash.com/microsoft/42925097.html peeled from the news feed at Groklaw.net.
Frankly I find it unsurprising, especially given the comment down further in the article, where they call on other companies to do similarly.
Smith made it clear that the company isn’t about to see its donation, with a value of at least $3 million on the low end, used to promote the use of competing programs. At the same time, he said Microsoft “would be thrilled” if other companies in the software industry took similar steps to promote training on their own products.
Gregoire said she’d like to see other companies demonstrate the same level of “generosity” and “leadership” as Microsoft in that regard.
Microsoft know that non-Microsoft companies simply don’t get the same level of penetration for their software training, because large amounts of American (and even global) businesses have standardised on Microsoft, and will continue to do so for the forseeable future.
Why not step up to the plate properly, Microsoft?