Novell lines up SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10

By Matt Whipp

Posted on 9 Mar 2006 at 13:13

Novell has released the next version of its business desktop under the name SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10.

Based on version 10 of SUSE, SLED 10 has been engineered to sit comfortably among other systems already in place. As well as support for all standard network and printing protocols, it will happily hook into Active Directory environments.

Novell's Evolution email and PIM suite supports Microsoft Exchange. Novell's Groupwise is also supported, and IBM is expected to shortly release a plug-in that will give access to Lotus Notes and Domino services.

Remote management and control services can be set up through Novell's ZENworks Linux Management.

Novell has also integrated its AppArmor security suite from its SLES enterprise server, allowing admins to set discrete security and behavioural policies for each application.

SLED 10 claims to be the first enterprise desktop to boast OpenOffice 2.0. As well as compatibility with Office document formats and the OpenDocument format, Novell has added support for Visual Basic macros.

Desktop search is available through the Beagle application, and there's support for Bluetooth, enhanced power management benefiting mobile devices and other features.

Novell says it has worked hard on usability testing, throwing hundreds of usability tests at the desktop and filming 1,500 hours of user-interaction to make sure it is as easy to get on with as possible.

'With SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10, we are now positioned to address the sweet spot of the market, the general office worker. This desktop is already generating great interest in businesses of all sizes, and it represents a tremendous new opportunity for Novell,' said Jeff Jaffe, CTO for Novell.

Novell will be competing with Red Hat in the enterprise desktop space for a slice of the Microsoft dominated market.

For more information on SLED 10, visit the Novell site.

It claims the desktop is priced at roughly a tenth of what one would pay in the high street for a Microsoft setup, but of course this is the enterprise where businesses buy in tens, hundreds and thousands rather than one at a time.

Still, SUSE has a good heritage on the desktop. Red Hat ditched its standalone version, referring users to its Fedora development project. It now offers a Linux desktop, but that offering is based on a set number of clients managed by server software ie you have to buy the server element.