Microsoft's biggest competitor

Although Google is often mentioned as having ambitions in the web-based office apps arena and Red Hat or IBM have been noticed for open-sourcing their way into the enterprise domain, but who would have known that quietly and steadily working away to undo Microsoft's desktop dominance was none other than Cisco?

From Matt Asay's article:

It's not just in applications that Cisco increasingly competes with Microsoft. Cisco has been overtly targeting Microsoft with Linux, and has become a top contributor to the Linux kernel. The only thing it lacks is a desktop operating system, but in the cloud-based future that may well be a strength, not a weakness.

I'm not sure how Cisco has managed to fly under the radar for so long, but I imagine Microsoft is keeping a close eye on Cisco. Unlike Intel and others that would like to shed their dependence on Microsoft, Cisco has little need to placate Microsoft, because the bulk of its revenue doesn't depend on Windows. That's a frightening proposition for Microsoft, and one worth watching.