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Sometimes a report with some important conclusion will come our way, we'll see what company it's from, and we'll then reach for the saltshaker.  Things don't get much more authoritative than the UK government, however, and this entity has once again advised British schools not to use Microsoft Vista.

From Microsoft's point of view, that's got to hurt; previous recommendations were only temporary in nature, but following "significant additional work," this one is final.  Employees of Microsoft's PR department could be forced to wear symbolic black eyes as a result.

Of course, it's not as if this report comes from the Queen's own desk - Becta, the British Educational Communications and Technology Agency, is behind it (and Eric Bangeman was kind enough to provide a link).  Still, even beyond appearances, this isn't good - Microsoft's accountants will also notice the loss.

The Becta report states, "The overall cost of deploying Vista in schools in England and Wales are in the region of £175 million ($343 million). . . .  About one third of the total costs are attributable to Microsoft licensing costs."

So why didn't Becta like Vista?  High system requirements, poor interoperability, and "a lack of significant business benefit."  Better luck next time, Microsoft.