According to Bill Gates open source isn"t Microsoft"s toughest competitor. No, it"s pirated software.
Australia--Microsoft Chairman and Chief Software Architect Bill Gates has labeled bootlegged software a greater threat to his company than open-source programs.
"You know what my toughest competitor is?" Gates asked reporters at a media briefing here Monday. "It"s pirated software...If you really look around, you"ll find way more pirated Windows than you"ll find open-source software. Way more." Gates said Microsoft"s software represented a "dramatically higher, better choice than anything you"ll get in the open-source realm. It"s true the press has taken a few design wins and said, "Hey, look at that." And you know, that"s great; it"s almost helpful to us to have a few of those, where people try that out.
"(They) see that being their own systems integrator--they say, "OK, I"ve got this, how do I get the Active Directory? How do I get the software update piece? How do I get the different applications?" And they see...various things about the intellectual-property challenge that"ll come into that." Gates made his remarks as part of a whirlwind trip to Australia, during which he was scheduled to meet with Australian Prime Minister John Howard.