Got this from Yahoo board. Is this new news, and is it true? Please help me confirm. Thanks. Quad-K
The link didn't work so here ist the original message:
Brainshare to showcase Novell, Microsoft ventures
Laura DiDio
Novell, Inc. and rival Microsoft Corp. are talking about joining forces on as many as five cooperative ventures involving
NetWare and Windows NT migration, Computerworld has learned.
The plans were disclosed by Novell CEO Eric Schmidt as part of a dress rehearsal for the company's annual Brainshare
developers conference, which kicks off March 23 in Salt Lake City. Schmidt met with a select group of large NetWare
customers at the company's headquarters last week in Provo, Utah.
Coming on the heels of two consecutive profitable quarters, Novell will unveil its new "Four Pillars of Networking"
strategy at Brainshare. A product road map for NetWare 5.0 and a 64-bit version of NetWare based on Intel Corp.'s
Merced chip also will be rolled out at the conference, sources at the briefing said.
Customers were enthusiastic about Schmidt's pledge to work with Microsoft on integrating its Windows NT operating
system with NetWare.
Topping the upcoming products list is a single requester/redirector being jointly developed by Microsoft and Novell that
will easily link NetWare and NT clients, Schmidt told the customers. Among those at the briefing were representatives
from Household International, Inc., ServiceMaster Services, Inc., ComDisco Corp., Baxter Health Care, Inc. and
Questar Corp.
"I've used both Novell's and Microsoft's NetWare/Windows NT connectivity packages in the past. They were OK, but
the integration was less than stellar because they just weren't cooperating with one another on technical details," said a
source who asked to remain anonymous.
Novell's new networking strategy will encompass network services and collaboration, Internet and intranet services,
network manageability and application development. It will form the underpinnings of all future Novell products,
including NetWare 5.0, company executives said.
GOOD NEWS FOR NOVELL
"For the first time in four years, I had the feeling that Novell executives have fashioned a cohesive and complementary
strategy and product portfolio," said one of the users, who also requested anonymity. "They're all singing the same
tune."
Bob Sakakeeny, an analyst at Aberdeen Group, Inc. in Boston who also attended the Brainshare preview, agreed. He
said he was encouraged by Novell sticking to its delivery schedule for NetWare 5.0., with the final beta version due next
month and general availability in late summer.
"We're now starting to hear rumblings that Microsoft may slip delivery of Windows NT 5.0 into the 1999 first or second
quarter because of complications with Active Directory," Sakakeeny said. "This gives Novell a great opportunity for a
comeback."
NetWare's market share has slipped in the face of a withering assault from Windows NT over the past 18 months.
Windows NT Server sales accounted for 47% of all network operating systems sold last year, compared with a 31%
share for NetWare, according to Data-quest, a San Jose, Calif., consulting firm.
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