BEIJING, Nov. 6 (Xinhuanet)-- Microsoft surprised the tech world, unveiling a plan to go into partnership with longtime rival Novell (NOVL), the world's leading maker of operating systems based on Linux.

    The two companies shook hands on a tie-up to create interoperable software and to "build, market, and support a series of new solutions to make Novell and Microsoft products work better together."

    "We believe the investment we're making together will make our respective products attractive to customers," Microsoft's Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer said at a news conference Thursday. "We're going to make it easier for customers to manage these mixed environments."

    The two companies signed three agreements, with a technical cooperation pact covering virtualization, Web-services management, and document-format compatibility.

    Virtualization is a technology that's becoming increasingly popular among corporations. Such software allows one computer to perform like several; so one server can handle multiple tasks at the same time. The Microsoft-Novell agreement would make it easier for Linux to run on top of virtualized Windows, or vice versa.

    The second agreement between the two companies covers patent cooperation and calls for both sides to agree not to pursue patent infringement claims against the other's customers.

    Finally, the two companies inked a business cooperation agreement under which they will combine marketing and sales resources to provide joint offerings for customers' Linux needs.

    Executives at both companies said that they were turning from competition to cooperation because corporate customers have made it clear they want to use a blend of technologies, Linux on some machines and Windows on others. Too often technology companies ask their customers to adapt to them," said Ron Hovsepian, chief executive at Novell. "Today, we are adapting to our customers."

    The deal represents a bold shift in strategy for Microsoft, which became a tech behemoth by selling shrink-wrapped, proprietary software, but which is now struggling to compete with rivals offering free software and charging only for technical support.

    The plan also highlights the rapid growth of Linux, which is available free, and is constantly being improved and modified by software developers.

    Gary Beach, publisher of CIO magazine said the Microsoft-Novell deal will probably speed up the consolidation of the open-source software market.

    The deal, he added, means Suse Linux will emerge as "one of the preferred global open-source operating systems."

    (Agencies)