| Novell Wins Linux Desktop Pre-Load Dell Deal |
Aug. 07, 2007
SAN FRANCISCO -- In his LinuxWorld keynote speech August 7th, Dell CTO Kevin Kettler announced that Dell would be offering Novell's SLED (SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop) in China as a pre-load on Dell systems.
Kettler during his speech, which focused on virtualization and the desktop, made a point of using Xen on top of both SLED and Ubuntu on Dell laptops to demonstrate what a powerful combination virtualization and the Linux desktop makes. For example, on both systems, Kettler showed Microsoft Vista running as a client on Ubuntu and SLED using Xen.
Sources close to Dell said it was only a matter of time and demand before Dell would be offering pre-installed SLED 10 SP1 to its U.S. customers. Earlier in the week, Novell and Lenovo announced that Lenovo would start offering SLED on its T-series ThinkPads. This marked the first time that a Linux-powered business system was offered as a list item from a major computer vendor.
Lenovo may also be offering SLED on other ThinkPads. Lenovo has yet to announce which other models, if any, it will release with SLED.
Earlier in the day, Dell announced that it was bringing two Ubuntu-powered PCs to the European market.These systems will be first available in England, France, and Germany.
Dell has decided which systems it will be releasing into the Chinese market, but they have not yet announced which PCs it will offer with pre-loaded SLED. These systems, which will be released in the fourth quarter, will be running SLED 10 SP1 and its full software suite. This includes OpenOffice 2.2, Firefox 2.0, and the Evolution 2.6 e-mail and groupware client. In China, unlike Dell's Ubuntu's offerings in the U.S. and Europe, Dell will be offering full support for both the operating system and the hardware.
For Novell, Dell's announcement was "a validation of our desktop strategy," said Justin Steinman, Novell's director of marketing for Linux and open platform solutions, in a Desktop Linux interview.
"We've said SLED is ready to replace Windows desktop for the general population of business users and the Lenovo and Dell deals show that we've been going down the right path," concluded Steinman.
—Steven J. Vaughan Nichols
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