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Linspire - the company that was once sued by Microsoft, before agreeing to surrender its Lindows name for $20m - will offer its customers a patent covenant from Microsoft as part of the deal.

Linspire joins a growing band of Linux vendors who have chosen to shelter under Microsoft's wing, following similar deals with Novell, Xandros and LG.

The company says it has decided to deal with Microsoft, despite its past difficulties. 'Over the years, in an effort to expand choice, we have entered into dozens of agreements with commercial software vendors,' says Linspire CEO, Kevin Carmony. 'It certainly made sense to collaborate with Microsoft, one of the most important partners in the PC ecosystem.'

The pair will also work on making OpenOffice and Microsoft Office documents more compatible, better instant messaging interoperability and share Windows Media technology as part of the deal.