In case you haven’t heard, Microsoft and Novell just entered into a partnership which is extremely beneficial to Linux. Instead of me trying to explain it, read Miguel de Icaza’s post, Joe Audette’s post, and/or the official Press Release.
Update: From what I can tell this is actually a bad thing. Seems Microsoft just wants to start getting money out of Linux vendors for patent protection. I don’t know… go read groklaw or something for a much better comentary. 
Or maybe they are saying “Crap, we waited too long, it isn’t worth the bad PR, the lawyers fees, or giving monopoly investigations one fewer competitor to point at (or all of the above).”