Novell To Offer Open Source Desktop
Novell To Offer Open Source Desktop
April 11th, 2006: Novell has announced its next generation SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop, delivering, the company says, a comprehensive desktop at a fraction of the cost of Microsoft offerings.
Designed for business users who have so far been reluctant to leave their Microsoft comfort zones, SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop features a fast and effective Graphical User Interface (GUI) and integrated desktop search.
Until recently, any talk of a viable Linux desktop was scoffed at by many in the industry.Martin Fink, VP of HP's Linux wing and Barksdale Garbee, CTO of Open Source and Linux, told IDM at LinuxWold this year that “a general purpose Linux desktop is not likely in the near future.”
When told about Novell’s SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop they said it didn't mean a “high-end, specialised desktop.” However, it seems that SUSE may be more powerful and accessible than expected.
Ron Hovsepian, president and chief operating officer of Novell was in Sydney this morning presenting SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop as just that, a powerful yet accessible general desktop for business users. “Previous generations were good for think client hard lock down, this new generation desktop really addresses the basic desktop in a much more meaningful manner,” says Hovsepian.
The GUI is streamlined and familiar for Windows users, however it varies considerably when it comes to features. The most prominent of these is desktop search, which will return results from the entire system rather than just a single folder or application. For example, searching for contact by name will return results from email applications, word documents or wherever that search term is mentioned throughout the system.
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop is also the first full supported enterprise desktop to deliver OpenOffice 2.0, and with added support for many Visual Basic macros, Novell’s OpenOffice 2.0 is helping it close the compatibility gap with Microsoft Office.
When it comes to competing open source solutions however, Novell is, according to Hovsepian, the clear frontrunner over Red Hat. “I think we have the jump on Red Hat with the enterprise because they focussed on the edge server. What we’re doing is focussing on the full enterprise.”
Novell is pitching SUSE as a full enterprise solution at a fraction of the cost of Microsoft offerings, and with Linux Enterprise Desktop, it may be able to provide a compelling reason to make the switch. Novell believes in it so much it has migrated its entire operation to open source. Hovsepian predicts that Linux will begin taking off in mainstream desktop markets in the next 12 to 18 months.
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