Opening a new chapter in its 10-year history and a new front in its war against Microsoft, leading Linux seller Red Hat on Tuesday plans to announce its first version of the open-source operating system for desktop computers.
Red Hat's primary target has been Unix, the operating system on which Linux is based, running on higher-powered networked computers called servers. But with its Red Hat Desktop product, the Raleigh, N.C.-based company directly aims for Microsoft and its Windows stronghold. Red Hat initially won't tackle the entire desktop software market, aiming instead for corporations whose employees need only basic computing features such as word processing and Web access. But the company does have bigger aspirations.
"The ambitions are grand, but the expectations are going to be moderate at the outset," Chief Executive Matthew Szulik said in an interview. "What we're focused on for the next 12 to 18 months is doing a great job in the enterprise, the government and academic marketplaces." As with its existing server products, Red Hat will sell the desktop version as an annual subscription that includes support and software updates through the Red Hat Network. But it won't sell them individually, instead offering 50-computer subscriptions for $3,500 annually--about $70 per PC per year.
News source: C|Net News.com
Red Hat's primary target has been Unix, the operating system on which Linux is based, running on higher-powered networked computers called servers. But with its Red Hat Desktop product, the Raleigh, N.C.-based company directly aims for Microsoft and its Windows stronghold. Red Hat initially won't tackle the entire desktop software market, aiming instead for corporations whose employees need only basic computing features such as word processing and Web access. But the company does have bigger aspirations.
"The ambitions are grand, but the expectations are going to be moderate at the outset," Chief Executive Matthew Szulik said in an interview. "What we're focused on for the next 12 to 18 months is doing a great job in the enterprise, the government and academic marketplaces." As with its existing server products, Red Hat will sell the desktop version as an annual subscription that includes support and software updates through the Red Hat Network. But it won't sell them individually, instead offering 50-computer subscriptions for $3,500 annually--about $70 per PC per year.
News source: C|Net News.com
Style XP 2.04
Change log
Better Support for Icons.
Now supports 96 & 128 size icons.
Can apply themes without Icons, Sounds, Cursors, Backgrounds, and Screensavers.
Can keep the icon in a zip file without extracting it (saves space).
Can cleanly restore Windows XP default icons.
Uninstall restores XP defaults.
That's what I was thinking. I read that 4 times just to make sure that the crack that they're smoking wasn't clogging my brain. $70 a year for support and updates???
Btw. How much support do you get with your legal copy of XP? 0?
This looks like a software support contract for desktops in a business. In that light 70 bucks is not bad compare to how much MS support costs per incident.
Exactly as much as I have ever needed, thank goodness.
You get 3, actually.
Fedora is basically following the same path as Windows now a day, without requireing user to create a separate user account from root or Administrator.
I have Fedora, and I recall being put into a screen and asked to add a user... It was optional, if I recall (though I always set one up for myself).
What does Windows do? Most users buy it preloaded, so I assume it is an admin account? I may be wrong. It probably does a similar thing to Linux on full load, too. Does it force you to set up an unpriveledged user account?
There are four things linux really needs to get sorted 1) users permissions, this is a pain for a single user. 2) gfx systems, sorry but windows is more responsive than XFree or Xorg-X11. 3) Sound (shoddy at best) 4) software installation.
Once thats done we have a windows contender
Not true, Linux is not based on Unix, it's just POSIX compliant. Stupid reporter, shows what he knows.
Sure, it may not be exactly "based on Unix", but is and always has been seen as a worth while alternative to "Unix" that runs on cheaper hardware then what SUN or what have you was putting out.
So much so for linux being a network os...
Linux is very much a networking OS. In some ways more than Windows. However, it does lag WAY behind in the GUI setup (though you can find front-end apps for configuration, they aren't as well-done as Windows' GUI menus).
If your conclusion was Linux is not as easy to set up as Windows for many simple tasks, I would agree with you. However your final statement was incorrect.
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