Monday, 8 January 2007

Novell's SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop as 'Best Linux Desktop'

Novell has revealed that its SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10 has earned a 2007 InfoWorld Technology of the Year Award, being named 'Best Linux Desktop'. According to InfoWorld, "Novell's revamped desktop Linux distribution combines professional fit and finish with unique usability features not available from other vendors.... A class act, [SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop] 10 gives business users new reason to consider Linux for enterprise desktops."

SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10 shipped in July 2006 and has been downloaded nearly half a million times, the company said.

The Suse Linux Enterprise platform is integrated with Novell solutions for systems management, identity management and workgroup services, and it also utilises open standards, which simplifies integration with existing IT environment, as per a statement issued by the company.

According to the company, Suse Linux Enterprise 10 platform include a fully integrated and supported version of Xen 3.0, the emerging open source standard for virtualisation services. Xen 3.0 allows users to consolidate multiple workloads on a single server or allocate a single workload across multiple servers. Suse Linux Enterprise 10 includes Novell AppArmor, the application-level security service that provides ironclad protection for system and any processes that are running. With AppArmor, users can rapidly deploy application security for both servers and desktops while reducing the burden on IT department.

IBM will support Novell's Suse 10 Linux on its IBM's BladeCentre and other x86 hardware. IBM support is a plus for Novell, which is getting Linux out the door with Xen ahead of its competitor, Red Hat. Both have announced support for Xen on their future Linux distributions. Novell on its Web site says it's putting "the final touches" on its Suse 10 distribution.