Microsoft and Hewlett Packard announce strategic alliance

Microsoft and Hewlett Packard joined forces today to promote each other's products and services. HP, in particular, announced a full embrace of Microsoft's Windows NT operating system. The alliance has three major goals:

• To introduce products and services lower the total cost of ownership (TCO) for PCs, more specifically the NetPC and Zero Administration for Windows (ZAW).
• To offer Windows NT-based enterprise solutions.
• To provide solutions for heterogeneous computing environments.

Hewlett Packard and Microsoft are going to collaborate on a number of Windows NT-based products including Exchange Server and the Wolfpack clustering software. Microsoft plans on supporting HP's development of a single log-on solution that simplifies user access on a network