Microsoft has secured Windows at The Foreign & Commonwealth Office for another three years, signing a £6m contract to update and support the department's Windows-based apps.

Microsoft says the deal is a great demonstration of "how we are deepening our engagement with UK government departments and improving partnerships".

And that's about it, except for this honey-coated quote from Nick Westcott, the FCO's head of IT strategy: "This sets out the kind of principles we want underpinning the relationship between the FCO and its key business partners in IT. Our aim is to identify how new technologies can best serve the needs of FCO staff. We want to stay ahead of the game. This partnership will enable us to work together with Microsoft to use their technical and managerial experience to adapt suitably to the best new developments in IT."

So no look-in for open source software, just yet. ®

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