Justice: Tentative agreement with Microsoft

NEW YORK (CNN) - The Justice Department (DOJ) confirmed Friday it has reached a tentative agreement with software maker Microsoft Corp. to settle the four-year old antitrust case against the company.

A statement from the DOJ said the agreement would impose a broad range of restrictions on the company's business practices for at least five years.

The agreement does not cover a concurrent action against the company by a number of state attorneys generals. Some of the states involved in the case had been reluctant to accept softer terms than they originally sought, according to analysts.

Friday had been a deadline for the two sides in the case to reach an out-of-court settlement or have a federal judge schedule hearings on possible penalties for the company, which was found guilty last year of anticompetitive practices.