That whooshing sound they’re hearing in Redmond may be the dam bursting on PC makers preloading their machines with Linux.
This morning we learn that Lenovo will offer support for ThinkPad laptops that it ships preloaded with SUSE Linux from Novell.
About a year ago, the companies first announed their intentions to collaborate on a high-end ThinkPad. Today’s news expands upon that relationship. From the press release:
Lenovo and Novell today announced an agreement to provide preloaded Linux on Lenovo ThinkPad notebook PCs and to provide support from Lenovo for the operating system. The companies will offer SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10 from Novell to commercial customers on Lenovo notebooks including those in the popular ThinkPad T Series, a class of notebooks aimed at typical business users, beginning in the fourth quarter of 2007. The ThinkPad notebooks with the Linux-preload will also be available for purchase by individual customers.
For the first time, Lenovo will provide direct support for both the hardware and operating system. Novell will provide maintenance updates for the operating system directly to ThinkPad notebook customers.
The support piece offers an enticing twist for business buyers.
Dell opened the door wider to pre-installed Linux on PCs earlier this year after first taking the devices for a test run of sorts in China.
