Two years on, Microsoft and Novell extend partnership

"Novell has also done its own homework," Lachal said. "Part of its success is due to Microsoft helping it, but part of it is also due to Novell's own efforts."

Subscriptions for Novell's Suse Linux Enterprise server grew 38.6 percent between 2006 and 2007, compared to 20.9 percent for Red Hat, according to an IDC report from April.

Red Hat's market share during that period declined to 62.1 percent from 64.2 percent, in part due to Novell's success, the report said. Novell's server market share was 29 percent in 2007, up from 26.1 in 2006.

As even more businesses adopt Linux alongside Windows, Microsoft is now less likely to "launch a frontal attack against Linux" in court, Lachal said.

James Niccolai in London contributed to this report.

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