Gates sticks oar in Peruvian Windows debate

Bill Gates has signed an exclusive agreement with Peruvian president Alejandro Toledo to provide his government with technology, even though the country's law makers are currently debating legislation which could see Microsoft frozen out altogther.

The Peruvian Congress is about to vote on a Bill that would force government departments to choose open source software above products such as Windows.

Congress claims open source technology would save the country money as well as offer more flexibility for modification and distribution of applications.

However, critics of the Bill have accused Congress of breaching free market rules.

According to a statement, the technology agreement with Microsoft includes an initiative to offer computer training to 6,000 teachers at 500 schools, the implementation of a government intranet and the training of hundreds of developers in Microsoft technology.

In what appears to be an attempt to appease the open source advocates, Microsoft has agreed to share the source code of its Windows operating system with Peru's universities - but only for research and educational purposes.