Microsoft and phone manufacturer HTC have reached an agreement for the latter to license patents from the former. I'd like to think this means we're that much closer to having .net support for Android. I'd also like to think some day I'll own a Ferrari. Both dreams have a chance of coming true, but I'm not holding my breath for either.

What seems to have been forgotten about Microsoft is their initial success wasn't directly based on Windows. Instead, it was based on their software development tools, which were (and are) so good developers didn't care that they were getting locked in to one operating system. I'd be tickled pink if this agreement provides the bridge Microsoft needs to extend Visual Studio's reach into the Android environment, because yes it is all that and a bag of chips.