"Three North Asian countries are closer to signing a deal to codevelop an open-source operating system to replace Microsoft Windows, according to a Japanese news report. The agreement is likely to be announced this week by Japanese Trade Minister Takeo Hiranuma at an economic ministers' meeting in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh, the report in Japan news daily Nihon Keizai Shimbun said, quoting unnamed sources.

The deal is expected to bring together China, Japan and Korea in efforts to develop the software. Representatives from both private and government agencies will meet later this year to discuss the collaboration's terms, according to the report."

taken from cnet