OSNews

If you actually read the article...well, forget the article even the summary, it talks about the computers IBM uses inside their own company not the ones they sell Isince now they don't really sell desktops, anyway, lenovo does). They are basically taling about the few thousands of machines they use internally. Does this make a difference to Microsoft. Well, for really big companies, the cost of buying both Office and Windows per computer can be between $50-100. Going with the lower number and multiplying it with the lower estimate of 40000 computers (that some other comment refers to), you get a loss of sales approximating $2 million for MS not including any service contract that they have. Of course, this is assuming all IBM computers shift etc. While one can still argue that $2 million is peanuts to MS, I don't know of a company of any size "not being affected" by that kind of number. But more importantly, it does set a precedence since IBM is putting itself behind Linux more firmly therefore, it may convince more large businesses to make the move. While one can argue whether that will actually happen, again, I can't see MS ignoring that possibility. So, you answer your question, I think MS will care deeply.