Check out this eWeek article Microsoft Surprises with Linux 'Hands-On Lab'.

It's obvious that the overt FUD campaign is not working as well as MS might like, so here's the latest tactic -- Windows integrates. The apparent 180 degree turnabout regarding Linux is simply another front in their campaign against open source.

Not surpising at all is the thrust of the effort, but what is astonishing is the tacit admission that Windows is inflexible and the spin that this is a primary strength of the platform.

I suppose compared to LAMP, Windows is inflexible, but to suggest that flexibility and modularity is a weakness can only make sense in one context -- Very small business.

Granted, integration is a vulnerable point in the LAMP platform. However, approximately 65% of all code written is custom or inhouse, this weakness only applies to organizations without any development resources. MS is good to hammer on this, since such efforts serve to focus needed attention on LAMPgroup and the like, accelerating the production of apt solutions from the open source community.

My conclusion: interesting work, flexibility and modularity will continue to pull innovative programmers away from MS. Look for more tired old school rhetoric from Redmond, since the only people listening are aging decision makers, increasingly out of touch with software's vibrant and creative avant garde.

I predict no more than 18 months in which this approach will work for MS. After that? Litigation? Capitulation? Linuxation? [there's a new term, you heard it here first]. We'll see.