“Microsoft and Linux, Windows and Linux for that matter, seemed
until not too long ago less than complementary concepts. Still, the
Redmond company was forced into a corner by its own customers and
by the need to provide support for heterogeneous environments. This
is why in November 2006, Microsoft and Novell inked an
interoperability and patent assurance agreement bridging Windows
and Linux. One aspect of the partnership specifies that Microsoft
will sell Novell SUSE Linux support certificates. BMW and Siemens
are just the latest names to jump on board the Windows–Linux
interoperability wagon because of their mixed-source
environments…”