IT Observer - Novell Releases Linux Desktop

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Novell Releases Linux Desktop
Author: Jeremy C. Wright, Staff Writer
Monday, 08 November 2004, 15:35 GMT

After months of denials, Novell has quite suddenly released its own hybrid Linux Desktop for its SuSE Linux distribution. Novell Linux Desktop 9 is aimed squarely at the corporate market, where Novell has recently been getting a lot of not so gentle nudges to provide a stable environment for enterprises looking to move off of NetWare.

Novell Linux Desktop 9 is a "fortified" - read: cut down and thoroughly tested - combination of the KDE and Gnome engines and includes Novell iFolder as part of the desktop. Novell has already an evaluation version and the source code to the community at large.

The move by Novell comes amid a solidifying sense in the industry that Linux simply isn't ready for widespread desktop use by anyone but the most hardened of technical users.

"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 it's about identifying where and when an open source desktop can be a sensible, cost-effective alternative. In our pragmatic view, the time is now for specific desktop users to reap the benefits of open source."

The perspective has validity, as the ability to release desktop environments using Novell's existing tools is compelling. The reaction from large Novell customers has already been positive, specifically ones leveraging ZenWorks to provide consistent desktop environments to task-specific workers who require a small subset of applications.

The look and feel of the new desktop is consistent with existing enterprise OS's such as Microsoft's Windows 2000 and Apple's OS X.

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