I think the whole thing of
Microsoft being denied a booth at LotusSphere makes perfect sense. It's what we'd expect, and I don't blame them.
There are plenty of opportunities for Microsoft to target IBM customers through having a booth, and yes, I doubt IBM would be granted an equivalent booth at TechEd if they asked, although who knows?
As a customer, or in my situation, as an integrator, do you know what I'd like to see? I'd like to see that approach thrown out the window. I'd like to see some "cool" demos showing different technologies operating together seamlessly in order to solve common business problems. As a consultant, I can honestly say there are situations where things like that would have helped me implement Domino (not so much Notes, but definately Domino) at client sites, and vice versa. I'm exposed to clients using Notes/Domino (less and less), as well as full Microsoft sites (development in Visual Studio, either for WinForms or ASP / ASP.NET with SQL/IIS/BizTalk infrastructure), hybrids, and people who will use anything in order to just get the job done. Integration solutions help the customer choose the right technology for the job, without having to worry as much about "will this talk to xxxxx?".
However, it's a daring paradigm (punch me in the face later for using that word) and I realise it has risks.
(As a side note, I thought I'd previously located the worlds ugliest Domino site - however, I take that discovery back, because this is the true winner)
(Also, additional comments from Volker, and the original post from Gary Devendorf)