Before Microsoft started its Windows OS developement there was a UNIX os by Microsoft jointly owned by Microsoft and AT&T.

This UNIX operating system was named as Microsoft Xenix, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xenix

This OS is now bought by SCO and called as SCO Unix.

So the software gaint has its roots in the UNIX, before it ventured out with its own OS Windows.

The Microsoft Xenix was the market leader during that time period, [Proof: http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost...als+in+alliance]

So even that OS had rivals and hatered as the current Windows face.

Still microsoft has some links with linux.

Microsoft's Linux Guru Woos Coders with Freebies
Microsoft supports Linux via Novell

I don't really have much to say on this except for one thing;

There was a time when Micro$oft didn't suck.

Maybe thats why Microsoft is going after the open source community because of those ties with unix it could be that they had some of their applications become open source and and years later they want their money back . Funny feeling though they combine the xenix code with the dos and thus windows was born

Xenix might have been good at that time, but now it's a reason why SCO isn't doing so hot - there is a lack of proper drivers, the binary format isn't very popular, and OpenServer(I'll give you a clue: it has nothing to do with open source) is prone to crashing.

This post has been edited by Tetraca: May 16 2007, 08:55 PM

Oh? That's strange. I came across this thread that said Microsoft is pressing Linux for violating over 200 of its (Microsoft's) patents.

Oh well, positive or otherwise, it is readily apparent that Microsoft is paying closer attention to the Linux and Open-Source communities

I had no idea microsoft and linux were together on something like this. I always though that they were rivals, especially cause they are completely different ideas. I would never have thought that the gentoo founder was in it also, I guess its all about the money then.

... I just finished reading this article and it dates way back to August 2005. I guess many things have changed since then.

This post has been edited by FLaKes: May 17 2007, 05:19 PM

Well this is most interesting that windows will start further implementing the open source software they would certainly need a lot of programmers. And with their new leadership in mind that is on the software architecture development.

That is microsoft is advancing huge steps and their windows vista shows that as they are developing it rapidly and expectations of the new system after vista are in some two and a half years which is really fast and might make windows dominant.