A Cisco / Google partnership would be lethal in the industry. Whatever the focus they decide on is (VM, bare metal, etc.) I really hope they forgo Microsoft as a whole and adopt a mainstream Linux distribution such as RHEL or Suse. And for those who don't want to use that they should allow for alternatives such as CentOS. That combination would make Cisco more of a success. The main thing IMO is to keep Microsoft out of the picture as much as possible from an OS perspective. Cisco has the only real potential to pose as real competition for the boys in Redmond. This would help stimulate the economy if they can undercut the competition instead of inflating it with "support contracts" few ever use thanks to in house certified techs.

They should call it The Gibson. Cisco has the potential to become the next Cray and HP all in one house. I for one would buy them and openly support them.