A group of Californians have settled a class-action lawsuit against Microsoft for $1.1 billion dollars.
It ends the contentious legal action which accused the software giant of violating the state's unfair competition laws.
The agreement, which must still be approved by a court, was announced by lawyers for the plaintiffs and Microsoft.
The settlement covers California consumers and businesses who bought Microsoft's operating system, productivity suite, spreadsheet or word processing software between February 18th, 1995, and December 15th, 2001, for use in the state of California.
Under the deal, proceeds of the settlement will be distributed to the plaintiffs in the form of vouchers redeemable for any manufacturer's computer-related products and software.
Though the face value of the settlement is $1.1 billion, the actual amount will depend on the number of consumers who claim, according to Microsoft lawyers.
AP
