Amid all the rumors and hype over Microsoft's Vista, it seems there are a fairly large number of instances where Microsoft is being shown the door. Here in the U.S., we have read that the Department of Transportation (for certain states), the Federal Aviation Administration, and others are dumping Microsoft for Linux.

It's strange, however, to note that the action taken by those organizations seems to have triggered reactions in the European Union! It has been reported that the French Government has decided to install Linux on the PCs used by the 577 deputies and their assistants, administrators, and legislators! They will all be moving to Ubuntu.

The Private sector in France has reacted as well. According to The Business Source, car manufacturer Peugeot has swept their employee's desktops (20,000 of them) clean of Microsoft Windows, and installed Linux across the board. It isn't just Windows that is being dropped, MS Office is as well. It seems Open Source Software has become mainstream!

Further to note is that France is not the only country that has moved away. Last summer I reported that in Spain, a fairly large school district (50,000 PCs) did the very same thing. It shouldn't be a surprise to find many other countries are considering the same move.

The question arises: will Microsoft be able to absorb the loss of business? Only time will tell.