Linux Is Ready For The Desktop – Are You?

Providing desktop computing across your organisation is probably taking a sizeable chunk of your IT budget, not to mention the maintenance headaches that it constantly produces. So, let’s not beat around the bush; everything comes down to cost, including the cost to purchase software and the ongoing costs of maintenance.

Every day we see the increasing costs of new licenses, the dilemma of paying for upgrades or signing up to preposterous maintenance and update assurance schemes, not to mention the mandatory hardware upgrades required every time you move to the next release of OS or desktop applications.

We have faced a lot of issues in the server world where legacy Unix systems were migrated to lower cost Microsoft servers. Over the past few years we have seen the next evolution to the acceptance of Linux as a robust and secure server operating system that has saved organisations thousands of pounds.

Now, it is the time of the desktop. Linux desktops offer flexible open source solutions at a fraction of the cost that we are paying for a Microsoft environment. What is more, the multitude of objections that we have had about Linux on the desktop has not only been addressed, but many of the negatives have been turned to positives.

One of the most proven Linux desktop solutions on the market is SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 11 from Novell. We thought you might be interested in understanding what this offers:

Cost – in a straight comparison, the costs of SUSE Linux Desktop 11 can be as much as 90% less than the equivalent Windows OS and Office applications.

Office Suite – when you implement SUSE Linux Desktop you do not then have to pay more for an Office application suite, it is delivered as free as standard as part of the solution. The OpenOffice.org suite provides you with all of the office productivity tools including: word processing, presentations, spreadsheets, drawing and database applications all of which are fully compatible with Microsoft file formats. What is more, there is also support for Microsoft Office Communications server 2007 and several other Instant messaging protocols. In addition to this, as an open source solution, you are also provided with a stack of additional applications for free

Market Leading Usability – we find that SUSE Linux Desktop users quickly overcome their fear of moving outside of the familiar Microsoft world. They find the Linux desktop easier to use, better designed, a nd definitely more powerful.

Bullet-Proof Security – Linux is highly secure; that is why it is utilised in so many server environments. SUSE Linux Desktop provides as standard with AppArmor a ground-breaking security technology that creates a firewall around each application. It also comes complete with integrated VPN and antivirus tools to ensure your desktop environment is secure.

Interoperability With Windows – this is not a Linux or Windows decision; Linux can quite happily co-exist and interoperate with your Windows environment. SUSE Linux Desktop fully supports Windows Active Directory, connects to Novel GroupWise and Exchange, as well as supports all of the leading multimedia file formats and supports thousands of plug-and-play devices.

Fully Supported – this is not a free download solution with no support. It is provided by Novell and comes with a comprehensive support service including maintenance updates, bug fixes and security patches, as well as email and telephone support from one of the worlds leading software organisations.

At b2Lateral, we are helping many of our clients evaluate Linux as a way forward for their desktop environment. If you would like to learn more about SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 11, or what other Linux options are available to you, call us on 0844 664 2565 or email info@b2lateral.net.