Microsoft is inking all kinds of alliances, as of late. On July 17, Microsoft signed a deal with XenSource to insure that Microsoft's server-virtualization systems will be able to support Linux even more robustly than they do today. On July 18, Microsoft and Nortel announced a new alliance, via which the two will collaborate on the R&D and marketing fronts in the unified communications space, going forward. Nortel plays in a lot of areas that matter to Microsoft, including WAN/LAN, wireless, VoIP, VPNs, phones and more.