"Microsoft will unveil new software next week that will allow
Web services created using its .NET technology to run on computers
that use operating systems other than Windows, Steve Ballmer,
Microsoft's chief executive officer (CEO), said in a speech here
Monday evening."
"We'll make some announcements Monday where we'll have ways for
people who are not running on top of a Microsoft platform ... to
implement our .NET services," Ballmer said, speaking at a dinner
hosted by Silicon Valley non-profit group The Churchill Club."
"Asked if the operating systems supported will include Linux,
seen by some as a competitor to Windows, Ballmer replied that they
would."
"Do we have a way for people who host Web sites on Linux to
build on [.NET]? Yes we do. That's not to say our overall strategy
is not to get those Web sites over to Windows, but we will provide
a way for those Linux servers to use .NET," Ballmer said."