Red Hat, Microsoft: Love-Hate Relationship Goes Virtual

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Fact is, Red Hat and Microsoft need each other. Midsize and large businesses mix and match Red Hat Enterprise Linux and Windows Server in their data centers. And web hosts also have to mix and match Red Hat and Microsoft operating systems in order to appease a range of customer and VAR demands.

With those realities in mind, Red Hat and Microsoft today expanded their virtualization interoperability efforts. According to a press release, the completed certifications include:

Sounds sweet. But watch for Red Hat and Microsoft to compete on a growing number of fronts. Plenty of pundits continue to consider Red Hat a pure “Linux” company. But in reality, that’s no longer the case. In recent months, Red Hat has been connecting the dots between VARs and software vendors, and reorganized its channel program to include three areas of specialization:

No doubt, Red Hat will compete with Microsoft on all three fronts — even as the two companies continue to cooperate in a number of areas.

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