At the Brainshare Novell user conference in Salt Lake City last month the company flagged the summer launch of version 10 of its SuSE Linux Enterprise operating system for servers and desktops. The company is positioning its Linux offering as a less complex alternative to the Vista release of Windows.

Jack Messman, chief executive and president of Novell, said, "Microsoft's Vista is going to require a big migration and more end-user training, and it makes sense that corporations will look at desktop Linux as an alternative now."

Linux on the desktop has come a long way since Novell and Red Hat turned their focus on the needs of the corporate user. Delivering the kind of polish and user-friendliness required is changing the perception that Linux is the preserve of the bearded, sandal-wearing geek.

Gary Barnett, research director at analyst firm Ovum, said, "In 2003 the battle was between the suits and the sandals but in 2004 the suits took over. This brought a lot of confidence to corporate customers, many of whom are quite conservative.

News source: ComputerWeekly.com