Microsoft has announced a new deal with Linspire that expands its any one but Red Hat group to three.

The deal, like Novell and Xandros before it includes office document compatibility, instant messaging interoperability and collaboration on digital media. Again the big ticket part of the deal inlcudes patent covenants from Microsoft for customers operating the Linspire desktop.

Amusingly Microsoft says that the deal “promotes customer choice”, which it does as long as the choice isn’t Red Hat, the most serious Linux commercial competitor to Microsoft.