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Information Technology News Microsoft and Linspire reach interop, IP deal
Information Technology News Microsoft and Linspire reach interop, IP deal | Microsoft and Linspire reach interop, IP deal |
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| by Stephen Withers | |
| Friday, 15 June 2007 | |
  
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What does Microsoft get in return? Apart from revenue from the patent licensing - it seems the Microsoft technologies will be offered only in paid copies of Linspire, not the free Freespire version - the default web search engine in Linspire will become Windows Live Search. Such arrangements can be lucrative: the bulk of Mozilla's revenue comes from a deal that makes Google the default home page and search engine in Firefox, and there's been speculation that Apple receives around $US25 million a year because Google is Safari's default search engine. Whatever amount Linspire is credited with under this part of the arrangement, you can bet that Microsoft puts a greater value on the traffic it brings to Live Search rather than Google. Linspire has also agreed to join the collaboration between Microsoft and other companies to provide open source translators between the Open XML and OpenDocument formats, used by Office 2007 and OpenOffice (and its derivatives) respectively. "Linspire has always been about choice, and this announcement continues our tradition of offering options for improved interoperability, enhanced functionality and confidence," said Kevin Carmony, chief executive officer of Linspire. "Delivering interoperable solutions for our customers is an important priority," said Bill Hilf, general manager of Platform Strategy at Microsoft. "Through our ongoing collaborative relationships with commercial open source companies, we are demonstrating our commitment to delivering the value and increased interoperability customers want. Covering features from document formats to instant messaging and digital media, our announcement today with Linspire is an important step for our mutual customers." Linspire was originally named Lindows. Despite a court victory in a dispute over the Lindows/Windows trademarks, Linspire settled with Microsoft and became Linspire. Microsoft has already entered into patent deals relating to Linux with other companies including Novell, Samsung and Xandros.{moscomment} |
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