With Microsoft deciding to withdraw support for Windows 98 from December 23, Sun Microsystems has decided to hawk its desktop software — Java Desktop System — at a 50 per cent discount to any offer that Microsoft makes. According to Microsoft, the no-charge support for Windows 98 ended on July 1. Paid support will continue at $35 per incident until January 16, 2006, two years after phone support ends on January 16. The list also includes the popular Outlook 2000.
"We will agree to match any offer Microsoft puts on the table for desktop software — at 50 per cent of Microsoft"s quoted offer. No matter what their offer, we"ll agree to provide the software for half their price. If they offer Windows and Office for $200 per desktop, we"ll offer them for $100. If they offer $50, our offer will be $25," Sun Microsystems vice-president executive-software group Jonathan Schwartz said in an open letter.
Schwartz said the Java desktop, which runs on Linux, is available at one-tenth the price of a Microsoft desktop with ten times greater security. He further said Microsoft"s decision to stop distributing and supporting older products is a deliberate attempt to coerce customers to upgrade to newer software. "It"s a lesson in how a company with legendary market dominance can lose sight of customer priorities and force a transition on to a customer base already paralysed with viruses and security breaches," Schwartz said in the letter.