Microsoft asked for factory floor certification

EE Times has a story about a manufacturing trade group pushing for special
Windows certification for manufacturing software products.

“The Open Modular Architecture Controls (OMAC) User’s Group … told
Microsoft executives that it wants to ‘lower the bar’ for Windows 2000
certification, thus allowing more factory controls vendors to meet a
common set of requirements. OMAC user certification might also give Windows a leg up on its upstart competitor, Linux.” One Boeing exec is quoted as saying, “If you’re
going to an Intel hardware base, you have a choice between Microsoft and Linux. Windows already has an advantage because some users are concerned about Linux’s security
issues. This [certification] would just make Windows an easier choice.”