It has never been easy in Greece to be a Macintosh user. Most people — or businesses for that matter — have never even heard of Macintosh. I remember when I went shopping for a bank and inquired if their online banking system was compatible with Macintosh, most banks replied with “Huh?”. When I explained — in a friendly chatter with the bank manager of Piraeus Bank — that the name for their online services “WINbank” was a bit narrow minded, he had absolutely no idea what I was talking about. Wasn’t the whole world using Windows? Windows was, and still is to a large extent, synonymous for “computer” in Greece. When I tried to book a ferry once at the Minoan site I couldn’t get past the Flash introduction with my Safari Browser. ForthNET, a spin-off of Forth, the “Foundation for Research and Technology – Hellas” flat out refused to serve you a booking page if you used a Macintosh. It took years — and numerous complaints — to set this straight.

And now, Greece has sold out to Microsoft completely. The little advance in open standards that was made in the past 5 years will be annihilated briskly and efficiently. See here and here. The indoctrination can now continue full swing with the official seal of approval of the Greek government. Scheisse!

> Money quote from Reuters: “Making Greece’s bureaucracy more user-friendly is also one of the long-term goals behind the centers”.

Ah, yes, the most user-friendly invention of Microsoft is now going to annoy us at every step of the way.

“I am pleased to see the commitment with our partners in Greece […]” Gates said. I bet you are, Bill, I bet you are! While Apple is selling underwear in Greece, you must be laughing your ass off.

Now I’m gonna get drunk!