Strategically, the deal makes sense. I would have liked the deal better if it wasn't part of a series of acquisitions ... but I still think the positives outweigh the negatives.

Everything PeopleSoft announced this morning helps clear the way to begin negotiations and maybe consummate the merger. The license revenue is much better than expected and that gives PeopleSoft a position of leverage.

The server business did really well. There are good things going on ahead of Longhorn.

Web services are only going to work if Java and .Net are going to be interoperable.

Let's not ignore the fundamental course of business.

There is a definite horse race between the two of them. But this is a massive market. It is not an either/or situation. Both will be successful.