• PC World
• »Software
• »Operating Systems

Red Hat is unveiling a new version of the Linux operating system for the desktop. Unlike earlier versions, the new software, called Red Hat Desktop, will be aimed at less-technical workers.

Red Hat Desktop will be a companion product to Red Hat's current desktop offering, Red Hat Enterprise Linux WS. Both operating systems are designed for corporate users, but Red Hat Desktop will aimed at front office workers, instead of the more technical engineering, software developer, and computer-aided design (CAD) users that had been using Red Hat's WS software.

And unlike the WS distribution, which is sold on a per-system basis, Red Hat Desktop will be available in packages of 10 or 50 units when it begins shipping, says Mike Ferris, Red Hat's product marketing manager for Enterprise Linux.

"What we are doing now is extending the Enterprise Linux product family by adding a Red Hat product hat is specifically targeted at the front office," Ferris says.

Software Selection

Red Hat Desktop will include a selection of client software, including Open Office 1.1, the Evolution mail client, the Mozilla Web browser, the Citrix ICA (Independent Computing Architecture) client, and a software management module, the company says.

The Red Hat Desktop is a follow-up to the company's March partnership with embedded device software vendor Wind River Systems, Red Hat says. But the new desktop software will use the same versioning scheme as Red Hat's Enterprise Linux offerings, which means the first version of the product will be numbered 3.

Software updates for Red Hat Desktop will be provided by either a Red Hat Network Proxy Server or, for customers who want to have a greater degree of control over the management of their software updates, the Red Hat Network Satellite Server. A 10-unit starter pack, including the Red Hat Network Proxy Server software will list for $2500. The 50-unit Satellite Server Starter Pack will list for $13,500, with support for each additional 50 desktops costing $3500.

The fact that Red Hat is already accepted in the enterprise will help Red Hat Desktop gain acceptance, says Dan Kusnetzky, an analyst with research firm IDC. But the Raleigh, North Carolina, company will need more than this to succeed with the product, he says.

"They're going to need partnerships with every single one of the desktop hardware suppliers," says Kusnetzky. "If there isn't a strong story about how Linux comes preinstalled on the desktop hardware of your choice, then Linux will not be as broadly interesting."

Overtaking Apple?

Linux is poised to overtake Apple Computer's Mac OS as the number two desktop operating system, Kusnetzky says, but with a paltry 3 percent of the desktop market, the open source operating system has a long way to go. IDC expects Linux to grow to around 6 percent of the desktop market, when measured by units shipped, by 2006, he says.

The lack of popular desktop applications, like Microsoft Office or Quicken remains an impediment to Linux adoption, but Linux's advantages in the area of software management, security, and licensing costs make it appealing for some users, Kusnetzky says.

"It's overcoming the initial impediments and becoming more and more attractive to more and more people," he says.

In March, Hewlett-Packard announced plans to make Red Hat's rival, SuSE Linux, its standard desktop distribution. HP currently supports Red Hat Linux with some of its notebook computers, and is planning to support Red Hat's Linux distribution with some of its desktop systems, but the company had no comment on whether or not it plans to support Red Hat Desktop, an HP spokesperson says.

Red Hat Desktop will be available within two weeks, Ferris says. The company is working with systems vendors now to develop plans to market the software, but no hardware vendors are yet ready to announce support for the software, he says.