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Story: Dell warns of Vista upgrade challenges
And the support's not free!
Everyone likes something for free - particularly when it's something that you need. At Camwood, we think that Microsoft’s idea of free is not quite as we would all like it to be. As Vista compatibility specialists, we should know.
In its drive to get organisations to move to Vista, Microsoft is offering a whole host of free tools and consultancy; software tools such as the ACT (Application Compatibility Toolkit) which are expensive to buy, so giving them away seems a great idea to get companies to move to the new platform. Yes, Microsoft has a vested interest in offering such tools and yes, in the scheme of things, giving ACT away won’t cost Microsoft much money. Companies wanting to use them, don't have to pay for them - which in anyone's book saves money and cuts the cost of moving to Vista.
But does it? Is this free software really "free". Technically, yes it is - you don't pay for it. But, like many other such offers, free doesn't always mean no cost! Companies who want to take advantage of this free software have to install it and then support it. This certainly is not free - installation takes time and costs money and ACT is costly to support - it needs resources and people to support it - in fact, it's probably the most expensive "free" tool currently available.
So, whilst free might mean you don't actually hand over any money to Microsoft, it certainly isn't the free lunch that you'd been lead to believe.
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