The imminent launch of the Suse Linux Office Desktop, and new Intel development tools for Linux, could encourage more organisations to consider a move away from Windows systems.

Suse will launch its Linux desktop at the LinuxWorld show in New York on Wednesday. The operating system is based on Suse Linux 8.1, but includes open-source and commercial tools to make it easier to migrate from Windows.

"We will be the first Linux business desktop. We are not predicting a wholesale migration to Linux, but we can look at migrating certain departments," said Jasmin Ul-Haque, director of Suse.

Tests by IT Week indicate that the new desktop is a viable alternative to Windows. The fact that it does not come with a functional equivalent to Microsoft Office might be an issue for some firms, but Suse's inclusion of the StarOffice 6.0 open source suite and CodeWeavers' CrossOver Office Windows emulation tools narrows the gap. Firms that have developed macro scripts for Microsoft Office applications can continue to run Microsoft Word and Excel under Linux using the CrossOver Office tools, thereby saving the cost of a Windows licence.

However, other difficulties mean Linux is not yet suitable for every organisation. Our tests indicate most end-users would have difficulty configuring the operating system themselves, so firms will need to prepare their own disk images to simplify the installation of software onto PCs.

In another significant move, Intel last week launched a Linux version of its VTune Performance Analyser tool, which enables software developers to analyse and fine-tune the performance of their Linux software. The tool complements the Windows version of VTune, which is now at version 6.1, and can work with remote Linux systems. In another step forward for the open-source movement, the MySQL database was last week made available for IBM mainframes.

However, Microsoft is itself using some open-source tactics to keep buyers happy. It said it will release Windows source code to government departments so they can reassure themselves about its security.

Though Microsoft has already sent the code to Nato and the Russian government, the move signals a further relaxation of Microsoft's policy on disclosure. In a recent US antitrust case, Microsoft said its source code was a trade secret, but observers doubt the source code will remain secret once it has been disclosed to so many agencies.

IT buyers may also want to be reassured of the future of Linux vendors. Last week, French Linux distributor MandrakeSoft filed for bankruptcy, and SCO is struggling to stay above the minimum stock values required by the Nasdaq exchange. SCO is reportedly considering a licensing change to oblige some firms that have moved from Unix to Linux to pay an additional charge.

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