Tom Duff´s not buying it

TomDuff wonders why Microsoft seems surprised to not be exhibiting at Lotusphere...Isaw that Microsoft was not granted a booth for Lotusphere this year, andto that I say...  way to go, IBM!  I have a hard time with thefact that Microsoft wants to have a booth with the stated purpose to helpNotes developers integrate Notes and .Net technology.  I don't havea problem with integrating those things, but I have a significant issuewhen it's Microsoft that's doing it.The discussion thathas ensued is almost more interesting than the original thought.  I'veleft a few comments there, but let me summarize:Microsoft's not exhibiting at Lotusphere. However, as has been true for many years, they will have severalattendees at the event.  And no, we won't be putting red badges onthem as we did a few years ago :)Lotus and Microsoft integration = good. That's why people like John Head are speaking about it during theconference.  That's why vendors are exhibiting their integration tools.Windows is indeed a prevailing platformfor Domino servers (and of course Notes clients).  That's not whatthe discussion is about.This isn't personal, really, but I doresent characterizations that IBM is doing something evil.  As BobBalaban commented on Tom's site, business is business.  I happen toknow who made the decision around Microsoft exhibiting at Lotusphere, andthink the process by which this decision was made was a very solid one.