Dell to certify Suse on business PCs everywhere

Giant Dell bows to customer demand but falls short of pre-loading

Dell is to certify Suse Linux on business desktop and laptop PCs in a partial climb-down brought on by customer demand, and has confirmed that the offering will apply globally.

The PC giant has in the past argued that there is not sufficient demand for client Linux to justify any sizeable commitment on its part. However, the firm said that it had been converted by reactions to the IdeaStorm forum that began asking in mid-February for suggestions as to what the company should be doing.

On the IdeaStorm site, Dell said that it would certify Suse.

“We are listening, and as a result we are working with Novell to certify our corporate client products for Linux, including our OptiPlex desktops, Latitude notebooks and Dell Precision workstations. This is another step towards ensuring that our customers have a good experience with Linux on our systems.”

Asked in an email what certification included, Dell replied: “Certification means that Dell and Novell worked together to run a battery of tests on the systems to ensure that the systems and operating systems work together. The process gives customers assurance that they will have a positive experience with Dell.”

The most popular single suggestion on IdeaStorm, with over 84,000 “points”, is to have a pre-installed Linux available, with or without a multi-boot option and with or without Windows as an option. Nevertheless, Dell factories will still only pre-install Red Hat Linux on Precision workstations, despite the Novell certification.

However, with the Novell certification process, it has met other popular suggestions, including those to offer a Linux-ready laptop, to offer more systems without operating systems and to provide more Linux drivers.

Dell also went some way to granting the popular request to have no extra soft ware apart from what is ordered by buyers. The company said it would tweak the software installation process and make it easier to un-install software.

Other requests on the Dell site include: pre-installing OpenOffice and the Firefox browser; national call centres; installing a minimum 1GB of RAM; adding webcams to laptops; making quiet PCs; and improving hardware designs.