Microsoft wins US Army’s big contract

Microsoft wins US Army’s big contract

LOS ANGELES, June 25 (Xinhua) — Microsoft Corp. has signed a 478- million-dollar, six-year contract with the US Army, the biggest single order for the company, the Bloomberg News reported Wednesday.

Microsoft will provide software for the Amy’s 494,000 desktop computers, according to the company spokesman Keith Hodson.

The software giant has lost some government contracts outside of the United States to the free Linux operating system. It is trying to boost sales to US federal, state and local governments that are spending to combat terrorism and improve security.

The company has also been working to assure the US Defense Department and other branches of the US government that its programs are secure. The Defense Department has questioned the security of Microsoft and rival products since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. One of the department’s servers in March was attacked through a flaw in Microsoft’s Windows program.

The contract shows the Army has determined that Microsoft’s security is sufficient, said Rob Enderle, an analyst at Forrester Research Inc.

“It looks like whatever that problem was, it wasn’t great enough to stop the sale, or it was fixed,” Enderle said.