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Novell releases Linux Desktop 9 as competitor to Microsoft Office

Novell made their Linux Desktop 9 broadly available last week. The product is based on SuSE’s Linux Enterprise Server, and Novell is aggressively selling it to enterprises as a viable alternative to Windows. It must be noted that they’re targeting specific job functions, including call centers, and not the broader knowledge worker segment who often uses more of the capabilities of Microsoft Office. The package, which includes Open Office, is priced (MRSP) at $50/user and is expected to appeal first to the public sector and education. See Linux Insider for more coverage.
ComputerWorld notes that the migration won’t be an easy sell, and discusses some of the issues enterprises will confront in evaluating Linux Desktop 9:

“We’ve been looking at Linux for a long time as a cost savings over Windows,” said Joe Poole, manager of technical support at Boscov’s Department Store LLC, a 41-store retail chain. Linux-based desktop systems are especially alluring for use in the back offices of stores, “where we don’t need specially written applications,” Poole said.

But Poole noted that many of the 9,500 workers at Reading, Pa.-based Boscov’s are dependent on Windows applications, such as a homegrown program that’s written in Visual Basic and used by 120 merchandise buyers.

“It’s a critical app, and until it’s rewritten in Java, it’s going to continue to require a Windows OS,” he said.

Tom Pratt, information systems manager at Coastal Transportation Inc. in Seattle, uses Novell’s enthusiast-aimed SUSE Linux Professional 9.2 desktop software but keeps a Windows 2000 machine nearby for applications that don’t support Linux. Pratt said he likes his Linux system but would have reservations about requiring workers to give up Windows, partly because of the different look and feel.

“Technically, it would be easy to switch to Linux,” Pratt said. “But it would be hard for users to adapt, and that would provide no real advantage.”

Given all this talk weighing the attractiveness of stripped down pc’s running an almost-free OS, it’s worth it to revisit Sun’s thin client offering. As cost reducers and Microsoft-free solutions, they certainly must both be on the consideration lists of many prospective customers. Sean Gallagher of eWeek grives his assessment of Sun’s BluRay thin client offerings.