rackIT @ GWD

Lenovo and Novell announced an agreement today that will pre-load Suse (Novell) Linux on new notebook systems beginning at the end of this year. My source at Lenovo tells me that this applies to notebooks in the T Series, which haven’t been announced yet. “The T Series is our most popular class of notebooks that are geared to typical business users.” the source said. So why is this news now? Dell and Lenovo announced pre-loaded Linux a year ago to no great fanfare outside of the Linux community. The market is different now; mounting user dis-satisfaction over Microsoft products, and the cool reception of Windows Vista both contribute to vendors desire to offer more to consumers. These latest Linux offerings are aimed specifically at enterprise too – previous efforts were geared toward the home market. Interestingly, Linux users account for nearly 4% of operating system market share – the same percentage of marketshare that belongs to Apple – not bad for a product with no corporate marketing money behind it. The notebooks from Lenovo will hit the streets in the last quarter 2007. The full press release follows:

Lenovo and Novell to Offer Linux Preload on ThinkPad Notebooks
Agreement to Accelerate Desktop Linux in the Enterprise

LINUXWORLD, SAN FRANCISCO – Aug. 6, 2007 – Lenovo and Novell today announced an agreement to provide preloaded Linux* on Lenovo ThinkPad notebook PCs and to provide support from Lenovo for the operating system. The companies will offer SUSE® Linux Enterprise Desktop 10 from Novell® to commercial customers on Lenovo notebooks including those in the popular ThinkPad T Series, a class of notebooks aimed at typical business users, beginning in the fourth quarter of 2007. The ThinkPad notebooks with the Linux-preload will also be available for purchase by individual customers.

Committed Partnership
For the first time, Lenovo will provide direct support for both the hardware and operating system. Novell will provide maintenance updates for the operating system directly to ThinkPad notebook customers.

The two companies have a history of joint research and development spanning more than five years. For several years Lenovo has Linux-certified its ThinkPad notebook PC line and provided customers with the necessary tools to optimize the Linux experience on a ThinkPad notebook. Lenovo continues to the offer Help Center support for SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10 that started with the ThinkPad T60p mobile workstation notebook.

“We have seen more customers utilizing and requesting open source notebook solutions in education, government and the enterprise since our ThinkPad T60p Linux announcement, and today’s announcement expands upon our efforts by offering customers more Linux options,” said Sam Dusi, vice president, product marketing, Notebook Business Unit, Lenovo. “Known for hardware and software based innovations like our roll cage and ThinkVantage Technologies, we continue our tradition of building the industry’s best engineered PCs and delivering excellent customer solutions, such as SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10 from Novell.”

Roger Levy, Novell vice president and general manager of Open Platform Solutions, said, “We are extremely pleased to partner with Lenovo in delivering this pioneering Linux preload to the enterprise client computing market. Pairing Lenovo’s quality and innovation with the stability, flexibility and security advantages of the SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10 operating system gives enterprise customers the fully certified and supported Linux-based solution they have been seeking.”

ThinkPad Notebooks and SUSE Linux Enterprise – Leading Business Technology
Notebooks in the ThinkPad T Series feature the latest technologies along with Lenovo’s newest innovations, such as a Top Cover Roll Cage for extreme durability, ultra-fast wireless connectivity with Ultra Connect II and maximum battery life along with the Battery Stretch tool. Customers also benefit from the business applications delivered in SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10, including the OpenOffice.org productivity suite, an email client and web browser.

ThinkPad notebook PCs running Linux will be on display at Novell’s booth at the LinuxWorld Conference & Expo from August 6-9.