14 DAY TRIAL // Who would have thought that two entities like Microsoft and Linux will end up being close friends? Still, Microsoft has started to realize that if it continues to adopt the isolation policy, it risks losing some of its precious market share.
According to Techworld, Microsoft will launch today a site to promote its Linux and open-source interoperability work.
The launch will take place during a speech held at LinuxWorld by Bill Hilf, head of the Linux and open source software technology group at Redmond.
The new site will explain Microsoft's efforts to ensure its proprietary systems interoperate with open-source software.
"It's going to be the interface to all of the open-source lab work Microsoft does, where a variety of people blog - including myself and others on my team. People in the community also can provide feedback and give us ideas for better interoperability," Techworld quoted Hilf as saying.
It seems the site's address will be http://www.port25.technet.com.
Two days ago, the software colossus announced during the same event that Virtual Server 2005 R2 is available as a no-charge download. The application had a price of $99 for up to four processors and $199 for an infinite number of processors.
Additionally, no-charge virtual machine add-ins to run select Linux distributions will also be available, and Linux-using customers will also receive technical support.
In an interview for ITWire, Bill Hilf expressed his belief that reliability and predictability are the two key factors which give Microsoft the upper hand against Linux and the other open-source solutions and explained why Linux never managed to obtain a significant market share on the desktop segment. Mr. Hilf says the main reason behind this is the fact that users are not sure their hardware products will be compatible with the open-source operating system.