Suse Linux targets business desktops

Novell showed off its latest raid on the Linux desktop market at the Cebit show in Hanover, Germany.

Due in the summer, Suse Linux Enterprise Desktop has a focus on usability with integrated desktop search and a new user interface. Novell said it shot close on 1,500 hours of video improve usability so that common tasks such as saving data to USB memory keys and setting desktop preferences could be achieved without undue hassle.

“If Linux causes an IT support burden, Linux will fail,” said Greg Mancusi-Ungaro, Novell director of Linux marketing.

The new release is also the “first fully supported enterprise desktop” to come with the OpenOffice.org 2.0 applications suite, Novell claimed. The suite now supports the OpenDocument Format that is challenging the dominance of Microsoft file formats.

Novell said it had also improved importing pivot tables, integrating with collaborative systems such as Microsoft Exchange and Lotus Notes, and accessing network resources and peripherals. A Visual Basic macro reader has also been added.

Novell is pitching the release as its way to go beyond “fixed-function” environments.

“Companies are adopting Linux tactically, especially in environments such as trading desks, bank tellers and point-of-sale systems,” said Mancusi-Ungaro. “Large companies are starting to think about their users in a much more segmented way and this release [is appropriate for] basic knowledge workers.”

Some watchers agree that the refresh could be the on-ramp for businesses to adopt Linux on PCs.

“Although the momentum behind Linux continues to be strong, until today, general business users have not really been a part of the story,” said Gary Barnett, research director at Ovum. “With today's introduction, Novell is keeping a promise it made last year, to invest in delivering a desktop that is designed for the business user, rather than for experienced Linux users.”

However, Dell UK general manager Josh Claman said the firm was continuing to see “very little” demand for desktop Linux among its customers, the majority of which are businesses