I can tell you that in general, companies in Europe appears to be more open to open-source solutions much more than ones in the US. Of course, Europe is comprised of lots of different countries, and each country has lots of different companies, so your mileage may vary.
In The Netherlands many people believe M$ creates great products.. I stopped fighting, upgrading and patching NT pays the rent :-)
One of the reasons open source might be considered an alternative is the fact that M$ products cost $$$$
In Europe M$ products are more expensive then in the US.
I talked with one of my customers about using Linux instead of Novell or NT.. he said Linux is to big to be used in a small company.. I don't understand him and I even stopped trying to understand.
Just my 0,02
Bye,
B.