Red Hat Takes Linux to the Business Desktop

Red Hat is gearing up to take Linux to the desktop
within the enterprise with a new product planned for release within the
next three months.

Red Hat Chief Technology Officer Michael Tiemann told IT Week that
the product will be called the Red Hat Technical Workstation. The company
plans a different approach than it has taken with its existing desktop
offering, aimed mainly at programmers. With the Technical Workstation, the
company only plans to update it every two years in order to make it easier
for third parties to support.

Tiemann told IT Week that security problems associated with
Microsoft’s Windows operating system, and licensing changes which have
displeased some Microsoft customers, have opened the door to make corporate
buyers more receptive to desktop Linux. At the same time, new tools like
the Gnome desktop (a graphical user interface with an appearance similar to
Windows), make Linux more attractive. Other tools include the Mozilla
browser and the OpenOffice application suite.

Finally, Linux already meets a number of U.S. government requirements, like
access for the disabled, which may skew the picture in its favor for some.

Sun Microsystems which has recently vowed to support
Linux, is expected to unveil plans for its own desktop version of Linux at
the SunNetwork conference next week.