Linux market leader Red Hat on Wednesday unveiled the next generation of its open source operating system, saying the software, which integrates virtualization, storage management and high availability, will reduce complexity and make Linux a viable option for a wider range of businesses.

Red Hat also hopes the new release, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5, will better position it against proprietary Unix distributions, as well as Novell, which released SuSE Enterprise Linux 10 with support for the open source Xen hypervisor that RHEL5 includes last summer.

“It seems clear that Linux has fully arrived as a business-critical [operating system] for businesses of every kind and size,” says Charles King, principal analyst at Pund-IT Research. “Red Hat’s new Advanced Platform solutions suggest that the company is taking a lead in defining and delivering solutions that leverage the capabilities of Linux to its customers’ benefit.”

Analysts also note that enterprise buyers should carefully review the features in the operating system before deciding what to deploy. A Network World Clear Choice test of RHEL 5 found great benefits in the new features, including virtualization and security, but also noted that the updates could cause problems with some applications if the possible impacts of the new features aren’t taken into account.

Red Hat’s update includes two new products: the basic operating system, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, which replaces RHEL Enterprise Server and supports servers with as many as two processor sockets and as many as four guest operating systems; and Red Hat Enterprise Linux Advanced Platform, a more advanced, virtualization-focused platform that replaces RHEL Advanced Server and supports all server configurations and an unlimited number of virtual machines.

The pricing remains the same as RHEL 4, with a one-year subscription for Red Hat Enterprise Linux starting at about $350 and round-the clock support priced at about $1,300. Annual subscription pricing for RHEL Advanced Platform starts at about $1,500 for standard support and about $2,500 for 24/7 support.

RHEL Advanced Platform is the foundation for a truly virtualized environment and includes the Red Hat Cluster Suite and Global File System products to enable users to not only virtualize servers, but also associated storage, Red Hat says. RHEL 5 lets users move virtual machines among physical servers and virtualized storage is a key supporting technology enabling virtual workloads to access storage no matter where they are physically located.