Australia--Microsoft Chairman and Chief Software Architect Bill Gates has labeled bootlegged software a greater threat to his company than open-source programs.

"You know what my toughest competitor is?" Gates asked reporters at a media briefing here Monday. "It's pirated software...( http://news.com.com/Microsoft+cuts+p...29.html?tag=nl ) If you really look around, you'll find way more pirated Windows than you'll find open-source software. Way more." Gates said Microsoft's software represented a "dramatically higher, better choice than anything you'll get in the open-source realm. It's true the press has taken a few design wins and said, 'Hey, look at that.' And you know, that's great; it's almost helpful to us to have a few of those, where people try that out.

"(They) see that being their own systems integrator--they say, 'OK, I've got this, how do I get the Active Directory? How do I get the software update piece? How do I get the different applications?' And they see...various things about the intellectual-property challenge that'll come into that." Gates made his remarks as part of a whirlwind trip to Australia, during which he was scheduled to meet with Australian Prime Minister John Howard.



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