Walmart.com to Offer LindowsOS

Walmart.com has begun selling Lindows.com's Linux-based operating system, the first stand-alone operating system not made by Microsoft to be featured at Wal-Mart Stores' online store, Lindows.com announced Tuesday.

LindowsOS 3.0 Membership Edition is available now at Walmart.com for $98.72. The operating system comes with a one-year membership to the Lindows.com Warehouse, a collection of more than 1700 software programs. The membership lets users download any of the Warehouse programs for free and keep them for life.

Available programs include the office suite StarOffice 6.0 from Sun Microsystems, which normally retails for $75, the Bitstream Deluxe Font Pack, which costs $99, as well as many other programs for applications such as creating and editing multimedia files and for managing personal finances, from a wide variety of software developers. One-year access to the Lindows.com Warehouse normally costs $99.

LindowsOS also includes support for Microsoft file types, including Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files.

PCs for Purchase

Lindows.com also announced that Walmart.com is now selling 16 Microtel Computer Systems PCs loaded with LindowsOS 3.0 and LindowsOS MP3.com Edition, a version of the operating system that comes with more than 100 songs in digital format chosen from the MP3.com song library.

The LindowsOS Microtel PCs sold at Walmart.com range in price from about $200 to $500 and use chips from Intel, Advanced Micro Devices, and Via Technologies.

Walmart.com sells a variety of stand-alone versions of Windows desktop operating systems, including Windows 2000 Professional for $299.96, Windows XP Professional Edition OEM Version for $198.98, and Windows XP Home Edition OEM Version for $119.98. Upgrades are also available.