Novell ships desktop Linux for enterprises

In recent years, the IT industry has been asking when Linux will be ready to take on the desktop Jack Messman Chairman and CEO Novell

“In recent years, the IT industry has been asking when Linux will be ready to take on the desktop,” said Jack Messman, Novell chairman and CEO. “Novell is focusing its enterprise desktop efforts on Linux deployments where users can gain the most benefit. Novell Linux Desktop is not about the wholesale replacement of your Windows systems, but rather about identifying where and when an open source desktop can be a sensible, cost-effective alternative. In our pragmatic view, the time is now ripe for specific desktop users to reap the benefits of open source.”

Novell Linux Desktop 9 is built on the same software as SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 9. Beta testers have successfully tried out the software with their transaction workers such as call-centre operators and service-counter personnel. Desktop Linux has also attracted interest as a replacement for traditional high-cost UNIX-based technical workstations. The Novell Linux Desktop includes the Novell Edition of OpenOffice.org, providing a word processor, spreadsheet and presentation suite compatible with Microsoft Office file formats. It also includes Mozilla Firefox, a full-featured browser, and Novell Evolution, a collaboration client for Linux. Evolution integrates e-mail, calendar, contact management and task lists into one easy-to-use application.