Microsoft and Novell

At the Microsoft/Novell press conference, in progress as I write this, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer says that the two companies are working together to creat interoperability between Novell's SuSe Linux and Microsoft's Windows. The collaboration is to "erase the divide between Open Source and proprietary" software, says Ballmer. "This solution respects both business models." Their collaboration is designed to appeal to anyone running "a mix of Windows and Linux environments."

This is a clear attempt to boost Novell's version of Linux, and give Microsoft access to that version, which it now hopes will become dominant. "We want those customers choosing Linux and Windows to pick Novell," says Ballmer.

I believe this deal is directly targeted at Google. Microsoft is worried about the future of Windows for the first time in decades. That's because web-based applications, led by Google, provides the first real competition to Windows.

This does NOT mean Microsoft is dropping Windows. Ballmer says both companies will continue to work on their own systems. The message from Microsoft, he says, will still be "Windows, Windows, Windows."

Believe him. This is an old strategy of Microsoft's. The company is famous for hedging its bets. Before Windows took off, Microsoft was co-developing an OS with IBM. It didn't know which system would win. It also invested in Unix company SCO back then, just in case it provided a big challenge to Windows.

Microsoft simply knows that the best strategy is to pursue any avenue that might lead to success, even preparing for the need to drop or radically modify its cash cow.

Thus, Microsoft is creating a possible migration path to Linux--in a version it can control.

Remember that Microsoft is also developing a Web-based system of apps, giving Ray Ozzie, who heads that effort, the title of "Chief Software Architect," the title Bill Gates used to have. The company will eat its own offspring if necessary.

And Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer knows that a Google PC could provide a real challenge to Windows. A Google PC will run on some form of Linux. Microsoft may need to get a more efficient OS than Windows, which has become heavier than Morgan Spurlock, the guy who made the film "Supersize Me" and ate nothing but McDonald's for a month.

That announcement is a hedge, the kind that keeps Microsoft from obsolescence.

There is a certain amount of irony in the announcement. Before he became CEO at Google, Eric Schmidt was CEO at Novell, but could not turn the company around. Now Microsoft is giving Novell a boost, with Wall Street upgrading Novell's stock. Can Microsoft CEO save Novell when Schmidt couldn't?

But more importantly, can Novell help save Microsoft?

Comments

[/pd]

You have been renamed.. your handle from now on (in my mind) is "Father Richard" !! :)-

"That announcement is a hedge, the kind that keeps Microsoft from obsolescence."

Spot on !!

The next 180 days for msft is crucial.. and if vista does not make it, they need a back door to run too !!

[Piyush Pant]

Microsoft will have a troubled 3-4 years ahead. They have fallen into a common trap for tech companies - somewhere along the line they stopped having the capacity to make products to respond to user needs. Over the last two decades they have made "if you build it they will buy" into a coporate mantra. This has now worn thin.
Both their new initiatives (Vista and Live) suffer from a lack of a clear user proposition and (partiularly for live) a cohesive marketing and positioning strategy. Google is only marginally better though but they are far better at adjusting - being a much smaller and more flexible outfit. They were able to spot the dangers of their navel gazing in releasing a-product-a-day and NIH tendencies and acted on that. This shows that Google has the clear edge at the moment. For me it will be interesting to watch what happens when Google reaches a mass of about 15-20K employees. Beyond a certain size, all companies tend to have trouble remaining flexible and dynamic.