Munich Plans to Ditch Linux and Go Back to Windows

The city of Munich is working on a plan to ditch LiMux, a customized Linux distribution, and go back to Microsoft products, including Windows.

The city of Munich has been using LiMux and other vendor-neutral technologies for more than a decade now. The move posed a serious challenge to Microsoft’s dominance in the market. The success of LiMux would have encouraged other cities and regional governments to move away from Microsoft’s proprietary technologies in favor of open source technologies.

Microsoft increased its lobbying efforts in Munich, which didn’t see success under the previous administration. Microsoft’s efforts started to pay off with the election of Microsoft-friendly Dieter Reiter as the mayor of the city, when the plans to ditch Linux and go back to Microsoft products returned to the table. In 2016, Microsoft opened a new headquarters in Munich to assist the new government in going back to the company’s products.

Last year, the city of Munich conducted a study through a Microsoft partner, Accenture, which concluded that many departments are facing problems with Linux and open source technologies. In the month of February 2017, the city council came up with a plan to move to Windows by 2020.