SuSE Linux desktop slated for June debut

Looking to brighten the allure of having Linux on enterprise desktops, SuSE Linux last week said it plans to ship its SuSE Linux Enterprise Desktop operating system in June, a delay from original plans to ship it during the first quarter, which just ended.

Looking to brighten the allure of having Linux on enterprise desktops, SuSE Linux last week said it plans to ship its SuSE Linux Enterprise Desktop operating system in June, a delay from original plans to ship it during the first quarter, which just ended.

With many companies using Microsoft Windows as a client to SuSE Linux’s server operating system, SuSE Linux Enterprise Desktop will offer those companies an option to run SuSE software on the desktop as well.

SuSE Linux Enterprise Desktop, which is in beta testing now, will cost $130 per desktop, although discounts would apply to high-volume purchases, says Rafael Laguna, SuSE’s marketing vice president.

SuSE Linux Enterprise Desktop would be the company’s third desktop operating system, joining SuSE Linux, the entry-level member of the family aimed at individual users, and SuSE Linux Office Desktop, aimed at small offices with its network and disk-partitioning capabilities, he says.

SuSE Linux Enterprise Desktop will share the code base with SuSE’s other desktop and server operating systems, which gives users a high degree of compatibility across the company’s line of operating systems, Laguna says.

SuSE Linux Enterprise Desktop will be tuned for companies and government agencies that have from as few as 10 users to as many as 100,000-plus users, Laguna says.

Consequently, it will be engineered for easy, automated, centralized large-scale deployment and management through administration and installation tools from SuSE, such as YaST (Yet another Setup Tool) and AutoYaST, and from third-party vendors, such as Ximian’s Red Carpet Enterprise.

It also will feature fonts that are metric-compatible with Microsoft fonts, which will make it easier to import Office documents, Laguna says.

The product will ship standard with one year of maintenance and support, which gives users access to patches, product updates and security fixes; buyers can opt to pay extra for additional years of maintenance and support, he says.

The company plans to provide more details about the product when it announces it in May.

Perez is a correspondent with the IDG News Service’s Latin America bureau.