Now that Microsoft's six-year anti-trust battle is over and the company has hammered out historic partnerships with bitter rivals Sun Microsystems and Oracle, is the vendor on a path to becoming a kinder, gentler industry titan?
"I'm not so sure kinder and gentler is the starting point to describe Microsoft. It's more like being more pragmatic," says Jonathan Eunice, an analyst with Illuminata. "Pragmatism means companies like Microsoft, Sun and Oracle can somewhat bury the hatchet and work together, but it's certainly not warm feelings all around. It's an enlightened self-interest."
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