| Novell announces PCs preloaded with SUSE Linux |
Oct. 25, 2006
Wouldn't it be great to just get a PC with Linux already installed and ready to go? Novell thinks that's a grand idea too, and on Oct. 25 announced agreements with four white-box PC manufacturers who will globally distribute PCs pre-loaded with SLED (SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop) 10.
Novell's new PC vendors are European manufacturers ETegro Technologies, MAXDATA, and Transtec along with the U.S. PC OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) R Cubed Technologies. Each will sell notebooks and/or desktop PCs preloaded with SLED 10.
For example, the Transtec is already offering its LEVIO 210X laptop with SLED 10 already installed. This notebook comes with a 1.66 GHz Intel Core2 Duo Processor T5500, 512 MB of DDR2 SDRAM, and an 80 GB Ultra ATA hard drive. It also has a Double-Layer DVD+/-RW recorder/player, and a 12.1-inch TFT WXGA (1280 x 800) display that's powered by an Intel GMA 950 graphics controller with 128 MB of RAM. To talk with the outside world, the 210x also has a Fax/Modem, Intel PRO/Wireless3945 ABG WiFi, and a gigabit Ethernet port. This system is now available and sells for 609 pounds.
A similar laptop from R Cubed in the U.S., the LW1360, would run about $1,388 with SLED 10 installed.
A minimalist R Cubed desktop PC with SLED 10, the 1000 Series desktop, would cost approximately $490. For this, you'd get the basic box without a keyboard, mouse, or monitor. The system would include a 2.53 GHz Intel Celeron-D with a 533MHz FSB (Front Side Bus), 512 MB of DDR RAM, a DVD/CD-RW drive, and an 80 MB hard drive.
On the high-end, R Cubed could set you up with a pull-out-all-the-stops, SLED 10-powered desktop PC from its 3000 Series for $3553. For that, you'd get a 3.2 GHz Intel Dual Core Pentium D processor, 4 GB of DDR RAM, dual 720 GB hard drives set up as a RAID (Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks), a 16X DVD-ROM Drive, and a 16X DVD+/-RW Dual Layer Drive. It also would come with a 256 MB NVIDIA GeForce 6600 PCI Express graphics and a Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy 2 Zs, for audio.
These partnerships come on the heels of Lenovo and Novell's recent announcement of the first Linux-based ThinkPad mobile workstations. The Linux company also states that it's working on additional SLED 10 agreements with major hardware vendors.
According to R Cubed president Nathan Rockhold, R Cubed "share[s] a commitment with Novell to give our customers the right options to help them meet their business objectives. Pre-loading SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10 on our PCs and laptops is a natural move, as the market recognizes the advantages of Linux on the desktop and businesses decide to migrate to those advantages."
Roger Levy, Novell vice president and general manager of Open Platform Solutions, added, "Market demand for desktop operating system alternatives is really starting to take off, and these new partnerships will help meet that demand. White-box builders sell millions of PCs and are a crucial part of the growing spread of Linux on the desktop. We're very pleased with our new partners, and we're working with more than a dozen others to further expand the availability of SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10 and bring the benefits of desktop Linux to the widest possible market."
Novell is more than happy to add other system builders to its partnership list. Information about Novell's program for Linux system builders can found at the company's System Builder site.
-- Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols
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