3 years ago, Google was threatened by the Microsoft initiative who tried to mobilize players of IT industry against Google monopoly regarding internet search engine.
New technology was expected to be able to carry out multi-media searches. Europe, wanting to be in the race, launched the Quaero project.
Today, technologies of multi-media searches have proven to be complex to implement, and are not compatible with a use in public search engine business model.
Google reacted, and, realistically put on the tagging, as an intermediate technology, with YouTube purchasing. In the same time, Google affuted its attack capabilities with JotSpot purchasing which joins Google sheet and Google Doc series. These could lead to an office automation Web 2.0 solution for corporations, competing directly with the one of Microsoft.
Microsoft also took account of the deceleration of technological renewal.
It seeks to reinforce its positions – traditional chess strategy -. The announce of partnership with Novell is a beautiful Jarnac move which weakens competitors, RedHat in this case, and reinforces its own position, inside production departments. Their question is not “Microsoft or Linux?” anymore, but “How much Microsoft and how much Linux?”.
Kasparov, Karpov or Chirov would not redden of this move.
At last, after the reinforcement phase, we may wonder what will be the next move ?
See also the blog of Francis Pisani open source 3 reactions
I would like to see a continuation of the topic