After reading a post from my good friend Alex Weeks at vi411.org about his opinion on the Microsoft and Novell agreement it reminded me that I wanted to post my take after doing some research. I have come to the conclusion as many others have that this was a big win for Microsoft because they now gain access to the “Pike Patent” – for those of you unfamiliar with this patent it is important to note that Microsoft has been in lose violation of it since the dawn of the Windows OS, now any potential problems have evaporated. In short the Pike patent deals with overlapping windows and transparency, originally granted to AT&T and acquired by Novell, Microsoft now has access to this patent. They also gain access to some interesting SMP and clustering patents. My guess this makes sense for Novell because of the huge influx of cash and the “potential” access to Microsoft technology like AD, cifs, etc… Only time will tell but I think that Microsoft actually gained much more from this deal – some how they always do. Novell, the modern day Gary Kildall?