This is an interesting one indeed. Is a contract open-ended, or do you have to retender for the contract and allow for other bids, under law, for said contract? I think that one's easy enough to work out. Ian Lynch made some very good points on this, and I agree. On that note, it would appear that MS have taken advantage of the Govts. apparent distraction at this time by providing them a no-brainer: newer (cheeper?) contracts/licensing for the resumption of their license agreements under the guise of their new SA. Nice. Microsoft are not on my terrorist list, so I have no particular *gripe* with them, unless you count their antitrust behaviour and out-and-out "kill the opposition fast" business tactics as fair game? In this example (NHS contract) I think again they have shown their true business tactics, and in this respect should be opened up for all to see. Indeed, this may be in contravention of Eu law, and given the EUs interest in MS of late, should be very much in their interest to find out and investigate. If SUN had been doing this, then I think we all would be saying the same thing. Fact is, MS are a monopoloy and so need to be very careful how they conduct business; it would seem that they just don't care, because too many people believe that their practises are quite *legal* and therefore say nothing. This is no way for the software industry to continue, especially in the economic climate in which we all breathe. No. Simply, MS need to be brought to stand for this one, and the Govt need to be brought there too!! Paul