Novell has announced the upcoming release of SuSE Linux 9.1 Personal and SuSE Linux 9.1 Professional.Based on the 2.6 kernel, the Linux distribution offers the latest GNOME and KDE desktop interfaces.

The new software, which Novell acquired with the purchase of German Linux retailer SuSE in November, runs on 32-bit processors and 64-bit processors from Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and Intel.

Novell says that the software will be availble on May 6 at the SuSe Linux online store and through software suppliers. Pricing for the software is US $90 and includes five CDs and two double-sided DVDs (one for 32-bit processors, the other for 64-bit processors). The software package also contains more than 2,500 open-source packages. A personal version will be available for US $30.

San Francisco-based companies are accelerating their adoption of open source software in their infrastructure reports ETC News Network. William Rachmiel, CIO of health care provider McKesson Corp., revealed that his company has moved its "most important customer-facing application" to a Linux network. Electronic Arts' CIO Marc West says he "saved 35 percent on the cost of the computer servers it uses to host its online gaming site when it replaced 2,000 machines with 800 new ones that run on Linux." EA then passed the savings on to customers.

Mandrakesoft has released Mandrakelinux 10.0 Community edition with support for the new Linux kernel 2.6, according to the company. "In accordance with Mandrakesoft's new development roadmap, Mandrakelinux 10.0 Community is the ideal product for Linux users who demand the latest and greatest features at the soonest opportunity," says the company's website.

Features of MandrakeLinux Community 10.0 include enhanced server capabilities including the 2.6 version of the Linux kernel, Samba 3.0, MySQL 4.0.18, PostqreSQL 7.4.1, Apache2, and new Mandrakeonline update service. The desktop boasts an updated look with the new Mandrakegalaxy 2 desktop theme, updated menus, and a new Mandrakelinux Control Center for improved end user ease-of-use. 'Magicdev' has been introduced and provides dynamic CD support for launching appropriate applications when a CD or DVD is inserted into a drive. Mandrakelinux 10.0 provides KDE 3.2 and GNOME 2.4, along with OpenOffice.org 1.1.

Mandrakelinux 10.0 Community is now available Mandrakestore.com or as a download for Mandrakeclub members and contributors. The official release, 'Mandrakelinux 10.0 Official,' is scheduled to be released in May 2004.

Novell's Asia-Pac director of sales and marketing David Lenz expects Linux to have a big 2004. In this article at CNet, Lenz acknowledges that his company is involved in corporate desktop pilot programs based on Linux are underway by customers in Hong Kong and Malaysia. And Gartner agrees. Both are quoted as not expecting a mass move to Linux in the enterprise, though a significant number of proof-of-concept deployments are paving the way for corporate customers to evaluate open source and determine if the OS can scale to meet their corporate needs.

Customers are leveraging IT investments to get more out of existing systems was the consensus of a panel of CEOs at the San Francisco Software 2004 conference. Infoworld reports that panelists pointed to Linux and open source, as well as outsourcing, as examples of growth areas in IT. During the panel, Scalix founder and CEO Juli Hanna Farris, explained that her company has adopted a strategy of merging and acquiring technology, explaining that "a lot of good work has already been done."

Farris' company, Scalix, offers a standards-based email and calendaring platform for Linux. The software is based on Hewlett-Packard Co.'s OpenMail technology, which Scalix has licensed and ported to Linux.