Microsoft will pay Novell Inc. $240 million upfront for subscription certificates for Novell's SUSE Linux Enterprise Server product, Novell said in a statement late Tuesday. Microsoft may sell, reuse or distribute the certificates under an alliance between the rival software companies.

Redmond-based Microsoft will dedicate an additional $60 million over five years to market ways for Microsoft's Windows products and Novell's Linux open-source products to work together, Novell said. It will spend another $34 million over five years on a sales force devoted primarily to marketing the offering. Microsoft also plans to pay Waltham, Mass.-based Novell $108 million under a patent agreement. Novell in turn will make payments of at least $40 million over five years to Microsoft, based on a percentage of revenue of two Novell products.

On Nov. 2, Microsoft announced a deal to embrace Novell's open-source software platform, forming a technological truce between two longtime antagonists. The aim of the deal is to make it easier for the still-dominant Windows operating system and the increasingly popular Linux system to work together