Novell aims to rain on Vista's parade

Novell is attempting to take the wind out of Microsoft's upcoming launch of Windows Vista by offering its SuSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10 as an alternative.

The desktop Linux distribution is cheaper, more secure, offers comparable usability and provides greater flexibility for enterprises, Novell claims on a new comparison website.

The site offers white papers and other material to highlight user case studies which claim to demonstrate the software's benefits.

Novell has been targeting the Windows Vista launch in an effort to turn up the volume on its desktop Linux marketing efforts.

The Linux firm believes that the move to any new operating system causes such a business disruption that any extra pain of switching to a competitor's application is relatively mild.

Past attempts by Linux vendors to capitalise on Windows releases have had limited success.

Novell claims, however, that its desktop Linux distribution now is "good enough" to be considered for PC clients used by the majority of the world's office workers.

Consumer markets remain ill-served by Linux, as the operating system lacks the multimedia support required for high-end games and media applications.