IBM's SMB Services Light on Linux

IBM has rolled out a new on-demand initiative geared at providing desktop level support to small and medium sized businesses and geared for a Windows environment. The pitch is thus: IBM puts a server with desktop management tools at your location and then remotely manages virus detection and protection, operating system and application updates and patches, plus nightly backups of employees' hard disk images. Prices on a per-user basis start at $40.

There's just one catch. The customers have to be running an "XP" compliant desktop in a Windows environment; so far, the new service doesn't support Linux desktops.

When queried about it by internetnews.com, Dale Moegling, director of IBM's desktop services said, "From an operating system they need to be Windows 2000 or XP. The machines themselves need to be XP certified. We did that because most of the applications that people need and are running today need to have machines that are XP compliant." Overall, he added, the intent is that the offering is targeted for a Windows environment now.

Read Full Story