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Eazel, one of the shining hopes for establishing Linux on corporate desktops, will show off the latest version of its Nautilus graphical/network environment this week and announce a partnership with Dell, which is claiming a stake in the company.

Under the partnership agreement, Dell will ship Nautilus and Eazel Services on all of its Linux-based lines of desktop and laptop systems, a move most observers believe will give the open-source operating system greater credibility on the desktop.

Dell will put its money where its mouth is through its investment arm, Dell Ventures, which will take a "substantial stake" in the start-up, according to a company spokesperson.

"We see this as an important deal for both us and the Linux community, because it puts the products into the hands of a lot more people. It also sends a signal to the Linux community that we can put forces together to create a more compelling user experience," says Brian Croll, Eazel's vice president.

Dell will be shipping Preview Release 2 of the Eazel environment with its Linux systems shortly, but it will not release the finished product until next spring. The company had indicated its interest in Linux and in Eazel at the LinuxWorld Conference last summer.

Improving Linux File Management

Perhaps the most compelling parts of Preview Release 2 are the two services woven into the graphical shell that link to back-end services.

The first of these tools, Software Catalog, allows you as an end user to install software over the Web from a Linux library with a click of your mouse. The second, Eazel Online Storage, makes it easy for you to store files on the Web and share them remotely using just a browser.

"Over time, what we can do with these services is to intelligently look at what is on your desktop and decide whether it is a good thing or a bad thing for you to load a piece of software from the Web," Croll says. "If you are missing something you need to run that software, the system can go out and find it so you can load it."

Company officials believe Linux users cannot live on snappy graphical interfaces alone. They stress the coupling of the interface with smooth access to back-end services will prove its major contribution to establishing Linux on the desktop.

"We think right now we have a big opportunity to redefine the Internet experience for desktop users," Croll says. (See "LinuxWorld Draws Fans, Seekers.")

But some observers believe that, despite Eazel's best efforts, crafting a user-friendly interface is constrained by the two problems that have continually plagued the desktop use of an open-source operating system: a lack of applications and dearth of development tools.

"I applaud their efforts to deliver something that looks very much like Windows, with a browser and an exciting series of tools. But a pretty interface with no software and missing components is an environment all dressed up with nothing to run," says Dan Kusnetzky, vice president of system software at IDC.

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