Is IBM Germany Leaving Vista for Linux ?

That's the rumor, based on comments made by Andreas Pleschek. From the article:
Andreas Pleschek also told that IBM has canceled their contract with Microsoft as of October this year. That means that IBM will not use Windows Vista for their desktops. Beginning from July, IBM employees will begin using IBM Workplace on their new, Red Hat-based platform. Not all at once – some will keep using their present Windows versions for a while. But none will upgrade to Vista.
We've known that IBM has been eying Linux on the desktop for some time, and this may be step one. It's clear they'll never be able to completely eliminate Vista from their campus, as they develop too many apps that will need to be tested for deployment on it. If you look at what they are doing from a platform perspective though, it brilliant. What they are doing with Workplace looks extremely powerful. First, they are turning things like Notes into an Eclipse plugin. This will allow Notes to run on any platform that Eclipse runs on. But it gets better. With Firefox as a browser and OOo as an office suite, the whole package is extremely cross platform. Want to run Windows on your desktops and Linux on your servers? Fine – they can help you. Want to then later migrate from Windows on your desktops to Linux? IBM can help you do that to. Selling you migration services, licensing and support along the way. They can help you know and help you later…collecting some additional cash all along the way. IBM really seems to get not only where the future is heading, but at the same time understanding the realities of today.
Andreas also mentions that they are utilizing the lessons they learned about Open Source development procedures for internal proprietary projects, especially when it comes to integrating multiple acquired products. More proof the the Open Source paradigm really does produce better code and enable developers to do more. With products like Workplace and applications like Activity Explorer on the horizon, it will be very interesting to see where IBM can take Linux on the Enterprise desktop.
–jeremy
IBM, Vista, Workplace, Open Source