Microsoft, Novell partner for interoperability

Today's top story comes to us from the didn't-see-that-coming department: Microsoft and Novell have announced a partnership to foster interoperability between their respective operating systems, with a focus on enterprise customers. The agreement will see Microsoft offering limited sales support for SUSE Linux while also declining to pursue patent infringement cases against the competing OS. Additionally, the companies will create a joint research facility where developers will build and test new software solutions that bridge the divide between Windows and Linux. While details remain sketchy, the two companies have outlined three areas of interoperability that they plan to focus on: virtualization, web services for managing physical and virtual servers and document interoperability.

"Too often technology companies ask their customers to adapt to them. Today we are adapting to our customers," said Ron Hovsepian, CEO of Novell. "Microsoft and Novell are enabling customers to take advantage of each other's products where it makes sense in their enterprise infrastructure." Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer expressed excitement as well, "They said it couldn't be done. This is a new model and a true evolution of our relationship that we think customers will immediately find compelling because it delivers practical value by bringing two of their most important platform investments closer together."

For more on the collaboration:
- see this press release
- or this article at Ars Technica
- and watch the video at CNET