Microsoft and Novell friends?!

This is some amazing news ... Microsoft and Novell are now working together?!  Have I ever mentioned I used to be a HUGE Novell proponent and very anti-Microsoft?  I'm sure I just shocked quite a few of you with that little nugget.

Microsoft and Novell will jointly develop virtualization technology to simplify running Linux on Windows and vice-versa. Also, Microsoft will hand out coupons for maintenance and upgrades of Suse Linux, and protect Suse Linux users against patent infringement claims from Microsoft ... Along with interoperability between Linux and Windows, the companies' engineers will also be looking to do the same between Microsoft's Active Directory and Novell's eDirectory, and develop better document translation technology for Microsoft Office and OpenOffice, an open-source productivity suite. [more of the story at Information Week]

Wow, what's the world coming to?  Microsoft and Novell were once bitter rivals ... how many law suites has Novell filed against MS in the past?  I have a special place in my heart for Novell and see this as a very positive move for them and a wise move for Microsoft.  Microsoft's biggest threat in the enterprise market is linux ... so working with Novell to make Windows run on top of Suse linux is a good call in my book.

Yup, I used to be hard core Novell ... NetWare, ZENworks, BorderManager, GroupWise, eDirectory, iFolder ... serving a network of 600 some PC's ... and I laughed at the poor slobs running Microsoft servers.  And now today I strongly encourage churches to go Microsoft servers?  Quite the contrast eh? 

I still think Novell makes a terrific product, but there are many reasons I strongly recommend churches use Microsoft Windows2003 or SBS2003 servers today ... especially churches with low-to-no IT staff.

Why have I forsaken my once beloved Novell for Microsoft?  I'll save that discussion for a follow up post ... but let's have a little fun with it.  Bonus points time!
1000 bonus points for the most creative fictional answer.
1000 bonus points for the answer that closest matches my actual reasons.

See the past bonus points winners

Void where prohibited by law.  Bonus points are bogus and will remain the property of jpowell.blogs.com and may not be used in conjunction with bonus points, bogus or non, from any other website, product, vendor, or individual.  Cash value of bonus points = $0.00  Any attempt to counterfeit bonus points is punishable by death or mostly death to be determined by casting lots during the next harvest moon.  Odds of wining are 1 chance in a google.

Comments

[Dan]

You went over to MS because Bill Gates kidnapped your family and held them ransom until you did.

Ok seriously, you went over to Microsoft because they have MUCH better discounts than Novell, and there are many more people out there with Microsoft experience than Novell experience.

[Bob Brown]

I am surprised you are still with Microsoft considering your primary reason for switching was because of the expected Release of Microsoft Bob Office.

The interface idea was great. The file manager looked like a bunch of file cabinets, the recycle bin stayed there but there was a shredder next to it, and they were going to integrate a type of ICQ called H2O which was shaped like a water cooler and glugged whenever anyone tried to reach you.

By the time you came to terms with this being vaporware you were already hooked on the great promises of Longhorn.

Now for the made up reason:
Everybody was using Windows on the desktop and the integration with Windows server was very promising. Besides that, you probably walked into a situation where it was a better fit.

[Marcus Monroe]

FICTIONAL:
Because M comes before N. (Alphabetically)

THE REAL REASON:
Novell is becoming entirely too expensive with their products and continual upgrades. On the other hand, you know M$ will take forever and a day to get a product out, so you're good to go on spending for awhile. Plus Ed doesn't know Novell?

[Chris Marsden]

I find myself in a similar position (and actually had this conversation of the phone the other day). I am a Mac user and think more people should at least consider Mac before blindly ruling them out. BUT...I would recommend to any business and/or church that they buy Windows for several reasons. 1. Price. While Macs are getting closer in price, and in some applications could be argued to be cheaper, software licensing, support, upgrades, specialty software, etc... is a lot cheaper. 2. Choice. There is Mac and then there is Mac. In the Windows world, you can always ditch Dell for IBM, HP, or any number of smaller "White Box" companies. 3. Training. While I am the first to argue that I could train a new user on a Mac a lot quicker than on a PC, how many "new" users are really out there. Most people already know how to use a PC. They know you close a window with the little x in the top right, not the red dot in the top left. 4. Integration. The Windows network, especially on a larger scale, just works really well. Active Directory, remote computer management, imaging drives across the network, Exchange, and so many more things I don't know anything about, just work great in a Windows network. 5. Long term support. I want someone else to be able to step in a replace me tomorrow, if necessary. With a Windows network, it should prove relatively easy to replace me. With Mac, not so much.

I know your scenario involved Novell to Windows, but I think the principle is the same. It needs to be easy to use, easy to maintain, cost effective, and you need to be able to bring other people in to support stuff at a reasonable cost, either to come along side you, or replace you when the time comes.

As far as the "real" reason you jumped onto the Microsoft bandwagon...you saw that video of Bill Gates being "towed" behind Napoleon Dynamite and you just couldn't resist the coolness factor of being a Microsoft groupy.

[Chris Marsden]

Did you forget to issue the bonus points or did no one get it right?

If no one got it right, I would be interested in hearing the real reason.

[allen madding]

You got tired of the nifty red color that Novell has for its logo and opted for the multicolor logo of Windows? :)

I was a Novell guy from 2.2 days and up thru 4.0. Yes, I used to build coax cabling, carried around spare T-connectors and terminators. I really liked their NOS because it was solid. Leave a server churning for months on end without issue. But pricing, ease of configuration (i.e. print queues), etc and I have to agree with the moved to Windows servers with Windows clients.

[Marcus Monroe]

Two Words: ConsoleONE