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While Microsoft might be hogging all the headlines today as it finally launches its Windows 7 operating system (OS), professional balance requires that we here at The Tech Herald direct our readers to a similarly fresh-faced alternative being offered up by technology giant IBM.
Windows what? Microsoft who? Image: IBM.
Known as IBM Client for Smart Work, the new IBM operating platform is meant specifically for business and enterprise users (the very market Windows Vista failed to impress) and includes either Ubuntu or Red Hat Linux augmented by IBM’s proprietary Lotus Notes, Symphony and LotusLive packages.
“If a company is a ‘Windows shop,’ at some point it will need to evaluate the significant costs of migrating its base to Microsoft’s next desktop and bolstering its defenses against virus and other attacks,” outlined IBM Lotus general manager Bob Picciano in an official statement.
“American businesses have asked for a compelling alternative and today we are delivering IBM Client for Smart Work in the U.S.,” he added. “Our goal is to help organizations free up desktop expenses to use in more strategic collaboration projects.”
According to IBM, businesses and organisations choosing to adopt the open-source desktop package will be in a strong position to save up to 50 percent per seat on software costs when gauged against a Microsoft-based desktop – while also avoiding requisite hardware upgrades in the process.
While unlikely to sway mass focus from the current glitz and glamour surrounding the launch of Windows 7, IBM and partner Canonical expect to welcome hundreds of partners across the United States in order to help spread IBM Client for Smart Work throughout 2010.
“Instead of positioning the IBM Client as a ‘drop-in’ replacement for the status-quo desktop, IBM is looking to create something better – focused on usability, openness, and security with a path to cloud computing – in market segments that make sense,” commented Bob Sutor, vice president of Linux and Open Source at IBM.
“Linux as the basis of the desktop is a pragmatic choice and gives a nod to the likely future of the desktop as being open and often virtualized,” added Sutor.
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