Microsoft is not new to propaganda and spreading FUD around Linux and open source. They have been doing it for ever. They are the master of the game and they have brothers in arm who assist them in achieving this.

HP recently conducted a story which claimed that the famous LiMux migration cost around €60.7 million over a period of 10 years to the city. The study said that the cost would have remained as low as €17 million if they stayed with older version of Windows and Microsoft Office.

What is the life span of Windows XP? When will it reach 'end of support' or in Microsoft's words, the date when Microsoft no longer provides automatic fixes, updates, or online technical assistance? The date is April 8, 2014. Microsoft recommends, "This is the time to make sure you have the latest available service pack installed."

Since it's proprietary and vendor locked (in Microsoft's own wordings), "Without Microsoft support, you will no longer receive security updates that can help protect your PC from harmful viruses, spyware, and other malicious software that can steal your personal information. For more information go to Microsoft Support Lifecycle."

So where is the cost of upgrade to Windows 8 as XP will be on ventilator next year?

What about Microsoft Office 2003? How long will it last? Can you continue to use it with Windows 8? No, it's not compatible with Windows 8 so you will have to upgrade that too and it will reach end of life in April 2014 either way thus forcing the origination to upgrade to the latest version -- and what would the cost be?

Did HP include these cost in their €17 million study?

Why suddenly HP conducted this study? It was a 'proxy' warfare. The study was 'funded' by none other than Microsoft to spread propaganda and FUD around Linux.

So, can we see the study to evaluate if LiMux migration was actually more expensive than 'staying' and than forcefully migrating to latest version of Microsoft software? No. You can't. Microsoft has refused to publish the report publicly?

"The study was commissioned by Microsoft to HP Consulting for internal purposes only," said Microsoft's German communications manager Astrid Aupperle on Tuesday.

Why can't we see that report? Becasue it's the same story that George W Bush and Tony Blair told us about WMDs in Iraq.