Microsoft and Novell revealed their plans capture the Chinese market by taking their patent-protected and open-source programs business to the region.

The two firms said in a statement released on Sunday, that they were putting much emphasis on China because increasingly sophisticated business rely on combinations of software based on Microsoft's Windows operating system and non-proprietary Linux systems.

It's very encouraging to see that our business and technical collaboration continues to resonate with customers around the globe, said Ron Hovsepian, president and CEO of Novell.

Novell vice president, Susan Heystee, said that free Linux operating systems were popular in emerging markets such as China, India and Brazil.

Microsoft and Novell have strong confidence in the Chinese market, expecting big enterprises in China to pay in order to have the US firms keep hybrid systems updated and running including assurances that there is permission to use patented software involved.

We recognize that our customers want to use Microsoft products in heterogeneous environments and therefore we are pleased to offer this option to meet customer need in one of the leading global markets, said Ya-Qin Zang, chairman Microsoft China.

Microsoft and Novell forged the alliance in late 2006, saying that their engineers were building a bridge between Microsoft's proprietary software and Novell programs based on the Linux operating system.

A report from IDC, an industry-tracker company, showed that money spent on the type of paid Linux support being targeted in China increased by 38.6 percent the year Microsoft and Novell formed the alliance.

Novell also said it received 141 million dollars in SUSE Linux Enterprise Server subscriptions during the collaboration with Microsoft.

China India Software Microsoft