The UK computer agency Becta is advising schools not to sign licensing agreements with Microsoft because of alleged anti-competitive practices.

…a spokesman for Becta said the problem was that Microsoft required schools to have licences for every PC in a school that might use its software, whether they were actually doing so or running something else. Read the full article on BBC News (via Slashdot)

Patent application from Microsoft. Words fail me. Read what Wired.Com had to say.

“…In all my years working as a journalist, I’ve never seen any technology company spin information the way Microsoft did today. The press release on OOXML ratification is a blueprint for spinning semantics, and the stringing together of truths and half-truths to seemingly make the outcome of one event something else altogether. Microsoft’s press release and statements contained therein are shocking. The amount of propaganda conveyed by this one press release is reason for Microsoft customers or partners to reflect on their dealings with the company.” Read the full article.

“…Seven states are pushing back against the Department of Justice’s assessment that the landmark antitrust settlement between the United States and Microsoft has removed the anticompetitive obstacles created by the software maker and resulted in more competition in the middleware market. In fact, according to attorneys for California, Connecticut, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, the commonwealth of Massachusetts and the District of Columbia, known as the “California Group” of plaintiffs, “Microsoft’s market power remains undiminished and … key provisions of the final judgment-those relating to middleware- have had little or no competitively significant impact.” Read the full article.