Today, SuSE Linux announced a multi-stage product campaign for
the corporate desktop deployment of SuSE Linux. Starting January
2003, small and medium-scale enterprises will be able to migrate to
Linux on desktops using the “SuSE Linux Office Desktop.”
“In numerous desktop projects during the past years, we gained
insight into the various needs of enterprises,” explains Petra
Heinrich, VP Qualified User at SuSE Linux. “The clear increase in
the customer demand for corporate Linux desktop solutions has
confirmed our conviction that the time has come to carry the
accumulated experience to the market in the form of desktop
products tuned to the needs of our target groups.”
The first element of SuSE’s product campaign for the utilization
of Linux on workstations will be available January 2003. Using SuSE
Linux Office Desktop, companies and private users without any
previous Linux experience, will be able to utilize the stability
and security of Linux on the desktop. Additionally, SuSE Office
desktop allows users to continue the processing of existing data
with accustomed applications such as Microsoft Office.
SuSE Linux Office Desktop combines the technology and
user-friendliness of SuSE Linux 8.1 with proven tools that
facilitate the migration from Windows operating systems and
applications. During the installation, SuSE’s system assistant
YaST2 (Yet another Setup Tool) automatically detects the existing
Windows 95/98/ME installation and submits a suitable proposal for
the rearrangement of existing hardware space and the Linux software
to be installed. Even without any previous technical knowledge and
a pre-installed Windows 2000/XP, the migration to Linux performs
smoothly due to the partitioning tool, Acronis OS Selector.
“Thanks to our partnership with SuSE, we are very pleased to
offer the unique partition technology in our OS Selector software
to all SuSE Linux users,” said Maxim Tsypliaev, President of
Acronis. “Our commitment to the Linux community as a whole, and
specifically to SuSE Linux users, is demonstrated in the fact that
we are the only system software publisher today who offers full
support for all Linux files system, including ReiserFS, Ext2, and
Ext3.”
SuSE Linux Office Desktop seamlessly enables the continued use
of existing data, such as StarOffice 6.0 by Sun Microsystems, which
offers text processing, spreadsheet, and presentation applications
in Linux, combined with mature filter functions for data exchange.
In addition, StarOffice Base provides a powerful database.
Codeweaver CrossOver Office 1.2 allows the utilization of
accustomed applications such as Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint,
and Visio 2000 on the SuSE desktop. For the first time, IBM Lotus
Notes can be used from a Linux desktop. Both KDE 3.0.3 and GNOME
2.0 are available as graphical desktop environments. With the
functionality and appearance of the mail client Evolution, users
will not miss Microsoft Outlook. SuSE Linux Office Desktop provides
all tools needed for office clients in a small or medium scale
network.
The new SuSE Linux Office Desktop will be available from SuSE
Linux resellers from January 2003. The recommended retail price per
workstation is $ 129.00, including detailed documentation and 90
days of installation support.