Here is a theory. What if Microsoft wanted to create a cross-platform environment that depends not on more 'neutral' frameworks such as Java or C++ but instead depend on the Microsoft API? That's what Novell and various volunteers develop not at Microsoft's expense and without much suspicion or scrutiny from observers -- those from whom Novell earned some trust between 2003 and 2006. Microsoft must be pleased to see de facto GNU/Linux applications like Tomboy coming to the 'compatibility desert' known as Windows Vista. They all use the Microsoft API, which is software patents-protected. It gives Microsoft power -- both technical and financial -- over opponent platforms, not just ISVs. Given the Windows crisis Microsoft is experiencing, it wants to at least maintain some control if customers walk away to other platforms. That's Mono for you. ⬆

--Brian Goldfarb, Microsoft Product Manager
[note: Moonlight depends on Mono, emphasis is ours]