Government spending $14.4m on obsolete OSs

The federal government will pay Microsoft $14.4 million to keep using the obsolete operating systems Windows XP and Windows Server 2003.

As spotted by ITNews, the Department of Finance has handed Microsoft an $11 million contract covering custom support migration services for Windows Server 2003.

Services will be provided to the Department of Defence, the ATO, the Department of Human Services and the Department of Immigration and Border Protection.

A second tender for $3.4 million covers whole-of-government custom support for Windows XP.

Both operating systems have reached the end of extended support, meaning the only way to continue receiving patches and other support for Microsoft is to pay a premium price. XP's extended support ended in April last year while Windows Server 2003 was retired last month.

In Australia, Microsoft is asking organisations for $200 per user per year to provide custom support for XP, with the price doubling each year.

Last month the Victorian Government signed a $4.4 million extended support contract with Microsoft for Windows Server 2003 covering CenITex, the Department of Health and Human Services, and Victorian Police.

The same month, Telsyte and Dell published research suggesting that as many as one in five Australian businesses were still running Windows Server 2003 even as support ended.

Image courtesy of Cimexus under CC