I only recognized two or three of those names, and of those two or three, only one can actually contribute anything to a speech.

Very True -- this kind of action is unlike them, which is probably more of a sign of trickery than actual progress. If releasing a press statement that says they're studying linux to make their own stuff better and hang a "linux research" sign on the broom closet, I wouldn't be shocked.

It's also very unlike them to show (valuable) source code. If they did release their own flavor of linux, they'd have to show the source *And* they'd be in competition with themselves. I have a distinct feeling that they're studying Linux's methodologies and underlying structures for comparison, and tooting their own horn about it in the process.

This isn't the first time MS has been the last guy to the party -- they totally blew it on the internet, and they're totally blowing it on Linux/OSS stuff now. I agree -- .NET and win 2k3 speaks volumes about how they're stepping up to either compete with Linux or make it look as unattractive as possible.

I would love to see a version of office for linux, if MS became that desperate :) You have no idea how much I want to drag a word doc into mozilla and email it, and vice versa.