To ease such a transition to SuSE Linux, the company earlier this month released its OES (Open Enterprise Server), which places NetWare services on top of the NetWare or SuSE Linux Enterprise Edition kernel. Novell CEO and Chairman Jack Messman said at the company`s BrainShare event last month that a key to Novell`s success would be its ability to migrate those NetWare customers to Linux.

"We are giving customers choice, and so when they now look at license renewals, they also look at Linux," Messman said. "In many cases Microsoft comes to the table and keeps their business by lowering its prices. But how long can they sustain that?"

Microsoft hasn`t given up the fight. The software company and partner Quest Software said last week that they have migrated more than 1.5 million NetWare users to Windows Server 2003 in the past three years. Microsoft also touted a Yankee Group Research study of 100 NetWare users, 80 percent of whom said they will be migrating off NetWare to Windows Server 2003 by next year, with 14 percent saying they will move to Red Hat Linux and just 6 percent saying they will switch to SuSE Linux.