Sun and Microsoft announced on Wednesday that Sun will ship 64-bit servers with Microsoft's Windows Server 2003 operating system.
Within three months, Sun will offer Windows Server 2003 on its entire line of Sun x64 systems, the companies said. Sun already certifies that Windows Server will run on its hardware, but this agreement will allow Sun to pre-install the software and offer support to customers.
The two companies also committed to expanding their technical collaboration on virtualisation. Their collaboration was first announced in 2004 but has not lived up to the initial hype.
In particular, the two companies said they will ensure that Solaris works well as a "guest" with Microsoft's virtualisation technology and Windows works well in a virtualised Solaris environment.
The move is a major strategic shift for Sun, which has often boasted of its decision in the 1990s to shun Windows in favour of Unix.
Sun's expanded business push around x86 servers and the growing importance of virtualisation prompted the change, said John Fowler, executive vice president of Sun's Systems Group.
"It's completely natural for us to have a business relationship around the operating system we're virtualising. So the timing felt right for that," Fowler said. He also implied that Windows Server has matured to the point at which it could satisfy the high-end demands of customers that run Sun hardware.
As part of the collaboration, the two companies will roughly double the size of an interoperability lab first set up in 2004 to take on the virtualisation work. Executives declined to number how many people will work there except to say that the lab will house both Sun and Microsoft employees.
Other areas of collaboration include ensuring that Sun's storage systems work well with Windows and joint work on IPTV.
Fowler declined to say whether the agreement will be extended when Microsoft ships Windows Server 2008 next year.
Fowler and Andrew Lees, corporate vice president of Microsoft's Server & Tools Marketing and Solutions Group, said the partnership between the two companies has been continuing with little attention from the media.
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Specifically, the two firms' collaboration on interoperability has yielded better-working products in the areas of systems management, application development, storage and directories.
For Sun, the Windows distribution agreement is another move to expand its business — once built primarily around proprietary hardware — through partnership.
Last month, IBM said that it will ship Solaris on its servers.
Talkback
Thats fantastic. I would like to see more of such tie-ups of Microsoft with Other major playes in the Server Industry. This should not just limit to Windows Server 2003 only.