From the Winpache dept.:
...the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) announced an unexpected new sponsor: Microsoft. The Redmond software giant, which will contribute $100,000 annually to the ASF, joins Google and Yahoo as a platinum sponsor of Apache development.

...I spoke with Apache Software Foundation (ASF) president Justin Erenkrantz, who views Microsoft's sponsorship of Apache as a step forward for interoperability. He believes that this move is based on a legitimate desire by Microsoft to foster collaborative development of Apache technologies that implement Microsoft standards. In particular, he points out an ASF project called Apache POI which offers native Java libraries for reading and writing Microsoft Office file formats.

I asked him if this could possibly be the beginning of a broader initiative by Microsoft to increase Apache compatibility with .NET web development technologies, but he says it's still too early to guess Microsoft's future plans for Apache participation. He says that the Apache community, like the license it uses, tends to be pragmatic and naturally receptive to corporate involvement. He doesn't anticipate a confrontational response from the developers working on individual Apache projects because they are already accustomed to positive collaboration with the numerous companies that participate in Apache development. The response of the broader open source software community, however, is harder to predict.

arstechnica.com