Microsoft Extends Interop Patent Deal to SUSE

"With the sale of Novell to Attachmate for $2.2 billion earlier this year, one question that was not answered was the status of the Microsoft deal which has brought hundreds of millions of dollars to Novell. That question has now been answered.

Microsoft is extending its deal to SUSE.

"This relationship will extend through Jan. 1, 2016, with Microsoft committed to invest $100 million in new SUSE Linux Enterprise certificates for customers receiving Linux support from SUSE," Microsoft said in a statement.

"So Microsoft is renewing this deal for another five years, which is a big deal. The $100 million is a lesser deal since the original deal with Novell had a $240 million line-item for SLES certs."

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