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When Novell and Microsoft announced their unlikely partnership, a part of the arrangement that got little attention at the time was that they’d create a joint research facility, where both companies’ technical experts would collaborate on new joint software solutions. Now, they’re staffing up.

According to Sam Ramji, Microsoft’s director of platform technology strategy, the companies are looking for a few good program managers and software engineers to populate that joint research facility.

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In a Port 25 message, Ramji wrote that as a result of the partnership, two companies are opening a Joint Interoperability Lab, which “will be around for the long term, and will focus on interoperable virtualization between the Windows and SLES [SUSE Linux Enterprise Server]. This lab will be part of the product engineering teams for both companies.”

In particular, the Lab will focus on several areas: “Virtualization, Office OpenXML/ODF interoperability, WS-Management interoperability, and directory federation.”

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Ramji, and his Novell colleagues, are looking for program managers and software design engineers.

Depending on the particular job, one might work for Novell, while another would draw his or her paychecks from Microsoft.

Read the full story on Linux-Watch: Novell and Microsoft Staff Up Interoperability Lab

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