14 DAY TRIAL // Get the Facts was one of Microsoft's advertising campaigns, launched in 2004 as a website and its main role was to encourage users to switch from Linux to Windows Server System. The site provided case studies and other related materials; they've initially compared the TCO of Linux to Windows, but later the company has also featured comparisons regarding reliability, security and interoperability.
At that time, Microsoft claimed its products had a lower overall TCO than open source programs, due to its ease of use. Also known as an "anti-Linux campaign", the Get the facts website stirred lots of controversies so far. There were lots of people who claimed Microsoft has actually bribed some analysts to compare Windows software with Linux software and to put Microsoft's products in a better light.
However, for unknown reasons, the Redmond company decided to close the Get the factswebsite. Some claim this might be at the suggestion of MS's partners from the open source world, such as Novell, Xandros, Linspire, SugarCRM, XenSource. Actually, MS didn't close the website, that is it didn't put an end to the charade, they rather replaced it with something else. The brand new Windows Server Compare website resumes to relate the Micro$oft software only to Red Hat's. Is this because Red Hat Linux is one of the distributors that keeps on refusing a patent-protection agreement with Microsoft? Who knows ? (hint: Microsoft).
As Mary Jo Foley writes in her Microsoft kills its 'Get the Facts' anti-Linux site, Ryan Gavin, director of Platform Strategy with MS, claimed they've come to the decision to close the website due to the following reasons:
"Customers have increasingly asked for not only credible 3rd party information from other customers and industry experts, but also for Microsoft's perspective on platform decisions as a key technology partner. Customers want to consume this information in a variety of formats - from short Q&A to more in-depth business cases - from videos and podcasts to research reports. Compare was designed with these requirements in mind - to provide in-depth information about how Windows, Linux, UNIX and Mainframe stack up along key attributes. Given that the /compare site will provide 3rd party information, Get the Facts will be retired as a destination."