This is still just a prediction so I wouldn’t be too excited yet:
http://www.cnn.com/2002/TECH/biztech/12/10/meta.linux.reut/
Its about time Microsoft did something in this direction instead of just putting Linux down, though I’m sure a lot of people would still be very suspicious of anything coming from them. As I see it, they really don’t have a lot of choices. Microsoft may be able to compete against something that’s technically superior, but not something that is also free.