“In an apparent softening of its antipathy toward Microsoft Corp., Sun Microsystems Inc. plans to begin certifying its hardware to run the Windows operating system, a Sun executive said on Thursday.

‘We’ll certify Windows,’ said Larry Singer, Sun’s senior vice president of global market strategy. ‘We’re getting off of our religious crusade and we’re going to sell people what they want to buy.’

Though Sun has no plans to start selling Windows itself, the certification will give Sun’s customers new options outside of running the Solaris and Linux operating systems that Sun supports, Singer said. ‘If you have a Windows license, you can load it on that machine, and it means that Microsoft will take your support calls,’ said Singer.”