Sava's Place

Microsoft just announced that it will license digital media and instant messaging technology to Linspire Inc, a small desktop Linux distributor. This is just the last of many deals the company did in order to help the Windows OS work better with open-source software. The move is interesting because the two companies have not had the beast of deals in the past. Linspire Inc. started out as Lindows and ended up receiving $20 million from Microsoft in a trademark settlement trial in order to change their name to Linspire. Concerning this event Kevin Carmony, Linspires chief executive officer said:

For me personally, Linux in its formative years was about.
The reason you should pick Linux is, it is not Microsoft.
I am beyond that!

This was why Linspire contacted Microsoft in order to work out possible deals just like this one. Now they are able to license Microsoft code linked to Windows Media Files, True Type fonts and Voice over Internet Protocol. Now users will be able to chat live with Windows Live Messenger friends, and basically see familiar typefaces and programs. PCs running Linspire OS will also have Microsofts Web search engine set as default. Linspire is also safe now against any legal action by Microsoft, which claims that open-source software violates over 200 of its patents. This has yet to be proved and no legal action has been taken against any company so far.