In the “It Worked for Apple” Department, Microsoft pays Sun US$1.95 billion in damages over antitrust and patent related issues. In return, Sun begins a “new phase of legal and technical cooperation with longtime foe Microsoft.”

When Apple entered into a similar deal with Microsoft, it, too, was facing business problems. A year later it introduced the iMac which helped bring the company back from the edge.

In related news, a surprise: the new Windows (a.k.a., Longhorn) beta will be delayed.