Andrew, care to update the current status?
Vigilant is junking the SQL database in favor of a unified system where the Windows and Linux versions will run against the same database engine (Postgres, I believe) and will have similar though not identical graphic front ends.
Caldera Linux was, of course, dropped. The business side wanted SuSE but the programmers insisted on Red Hat, a decision they may be regretting now that SuSE is Novell (Dell has just signed with SuSE/Novell for servers). Not a big deal to support both though.
On the Microsoft front, everything is bogging down from failure to perform - particularly failure of the Longhorn group to produce the product everything else was supposed to leverage. The Unified File System won't be out now until at least 2008 and is ulikely to be widely deployed until 2013 if ever. By then the window of opportunity may be closed.
Microsoft CRM is still a significant threat, but without "total integration" vs. "total incompatibility" as a selling point, it won't be moving fast, and it's now becoming a victim of "buzzword incompatibility" as CRM fades in favor of SOA (Service Oriented Architecture) Nobody seems to know exactly what that is except that it's hard to achieve.
Without Longhorn, MS Great Plains / Navision have been as hard to sell as any other accounting systems and are waaaaay behind plan for world domination. IF MS CRM continues to hit heavy going I wouldn't be surprised to see the CRM/accounting products divested as a separate company to keep them from dragging down reported results. It's just too much work for too little return.
The problem with total integration is it is totally vulnerable to failure of any part, and Longhorn / Shorthorn / Foghorn / Hornswaggle is filling that role. Microsoft's ability to manage product development has fallen way behind their ambition.
