Apparently, Microsoft have been running print adverts in the UK that effectively claim that IBM Mainframes (running Linux) are more expensive than a machine running Windows Server 2003. Well duh!

From CNet News.com: Ad watchdog warns Microsoft to ‘Get the Facts’

A print ad from Microsoft which bore the headline “Weighing the cost of Linux vs. Windows? Let’s review the facts” offered a comparison between a Windows and a Linux machine, which, according to the software giant, demonstrated that “Linux was found to be over 10 times more expensive than Windows Server…for Windows-comparable functions of file serving and Web serving.

“The results showed that IBM z900 mainframe running Linux is much less capable and vastly more expensive than Windows Server 2003 as a platform for server consolidation,” according to the ad.

Indeed.

Fortunately the UK Advertising Standards Authority didn’t see it the same way, and asked Microsoft to amend the adverts.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), however, thought the choice of hardware could have been more appropriate, saying: “The measurements for Linux were performed on an IBM zSeries, which was more expensive and did not perform as well as other IBM Series.”

(Via Opensource.org)

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