05 February 2010, 09:18

Sold out: Microsoft's Linux business is booming

The SD Times reports that Microsoft has sold nearly all of its SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) support coupons. Microsoft purchased the $240 million worth of coupons from Novell as part of patent indemnification deal. According to Microsoft, a total of 475 customers have used an undisclosed number of the coupons. Based on those figures, each of these customers has bought, on average, just over half a million dollars worth of coupons.

The agreement between Microsoft and Novell, in addition to the mutual exemption of patent claims, also included technical cooperation to promote interoperability between SUSE Linux Enterprise Server and Windows Server. As part of the deal Microsoft promised to sell 70,000 Novell SLES support certificates per year until 2012. Overall, since the start of the collaboration deal in November of 2006, the two companies have sold a total of over $342 million. While the leader in Linux sales is still Red Hat, Microsoft currently ranks third overall.

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