For anyone interested in the current state of things in Switzerland, there is this handy map of which Swiss municipalities are dependent on Microsoft/the US right now: https://mxmap.ch/

> This comes as a surprise, as Microsoft 365 was recently installed on some 54,000 administration workstations

Not really surprising. The people Microsoft wined and dined for the contract are not the same people who agree with Thomas Süssli about reducing the dependency. I look forward to seeing them succeed!

I have switched my small swiss business (10 people) to linux (servers and desktops) and away from microsoft around 2020. I am extemely happy about the choice. Theres small friction here and there with clients that rely on certain software, but its usually minimal and can be fixed. Some people here talk about how people need excel and how important it was, I have personally never seen that in practice here with any client or company I worked for in the past, but maybe it just went past me. It has not been an issue for me in the past 6 years.

Doesn't everyone? ads, microsoft account required, undefeatable telemetry, and all wrapped up in dark patterns and bad user interfaces (perennial microsoft).

Sooner Europeans boycott US companies the better. US is as rogue state as Russia and China

Thirty years after Windows 95? How about focusing on AI or Starlink to reduce dependence now?

Everyone does, Microslops business policy doesn't align with most governments.

Simply replacing Excel will be a massive challenge.

I root for it, but it will be difficult.

Microsoft is getting creepy. OneDrive has surpassed McAfee as most aggressive proprietary virus.

I feel like this general story “x European country wants to reduce dependency on Microsoft” comes up at least once a year.

How do they usually turn out? I have heard Germany/France/? switching to LibreOffice or Linux for some government sector, but I suspect they quietly switch back.

Go for it, I'd say. Switzerland is a fascinating country, they lead in many areas. Zermatt, for example is a wonderful town with no cars.

After so many years of EU countries talking, how much has Microsoft's top and bottom line been affected?

Year of the Linux desktop!

Don't we all.