Microsoft has long tried to convince people that open source and free software has hidden costs. I will not argue that free software isn't always free. In fact that is how I am able to stay in business. Small businesses need people to setup and maintain their software, whether it is free or not. Free and open source software will continue to be less expensive than traditional paid software because you don't have to pay any licensing fees.
While Microsoft continues to try and warn people about these hidden cost of open source software, they seem to turn a blind eye towards the hidden costs of using Microsoft Software. It is not a secret that Microsoft software is targeted and more likely to break from viruses and worms. Here is an interesting article about £1.2m in hidden software costs suffered by the UK town of Manchester when government computer systems were attacked by the Conficker worm.
