03.13.07
Novell’s Virtualization Acquisition
We had surmised that Novell would be looking to buy a virtualization company with their thirty pieces of silver, with the focus of conjecture at the time being Xensource.
Apparently, Novell did pull the trigger on an acquisition in the virtualization arena, picking up RedMojo, but did not make a big deal about it at the time (it happened in November - busy month, huh?)
Novell in November quietly acquired a company whose resource virtualization software is being used to bolster the data center automation capabilities of Novell’s ZENworks management package.
The company acquired RedMojo for $972 million, though chose not to make an official announcement at the time.
Highlight: Novell was the first to acknowledge that Microsoft FUD tactics had substance. Novell then used anti-Linux FUD to market itself. 
Highlight: Xandros let Microsoft make patent claims and brag about (paid-for) OOXML support. 
Highlight: Linspire's CEO not only fell into Microsoft arms, but he also assisted the company's attack on GNU/Linux. 
Highlight: Microsoft craves pseudo (proprietary) standards and gets its way using proxies and influence which it buys. 
Highlight: The invasion into the open source world is intended to leave Linux companies neglected, due to financial incentives from Microsoft. 
Analysis: Xen, an open source hypervisor, possibly fell victim to Microsoft's aggressive (and stealthy) acquisition-by-proxy strategy.