Sun Microsystems and Microsoft today announced they have reached several agreements that will result in payments to Sun of nearly $2 billion. Here are some of the main points:

[COLOR=#1951B9]• Legal settlements: Microsoft will pay $700 million, and Sun will withdraw its antitrust lawsuit in the United States.

• Patents: Microsoft will pay $900 million to Sun as part of a broad agreement not to sue each other over past patent infringement claims. They also are seeking a patent cross-license agreement.

• Technical collaboration: The companies will have access to each other's server technology, enabling their products to work together.[/COLOR]