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Intel joins the Document Foundation, pimps LibreOffice
You're forgiven if you missed this little blip on the news radar: Intel has joined the advisory board of the Document Foundation and added the coalition's LibreOffice to the AppUp market. What's more, Chipzilla actually worked with SUSE to help optimize the free and open source office suite for Intel hardware and, as part of the advisory board, will be providing the project with significant monetary support. This is good news for fans of LibreOffice, but it's probably not sitting well with Microsoft -- normally Intel's ally and current king of the office suite hill.
Microsoft renews alliance with SUSE, throws $100 million in pocket change at Linux
Microsoft and Linux haven't always had the friendliest of rapports but, a few years back, the folks at Redmond decided to cozy up to Novell and the enterprise-focused distro SUSE. The German arm of the company even wished Tux a happy 20th birthday last week, in an attempt to further thaw their notoriously chilly relationship. Now the Windows crew have decided to renew their partnership with SUSE and have committed to purchasing $100 million in technical support for Microsoft Enterprise customers who also happen to be running Linux boxes as part of their operations. It's not about to stop claiming that the open source OS violates several of its patents, but at least they've learned to get along with out suing each other into oblivion... unlike some other companies we could name. Cough. Check out the full PR after the break.
HP Mini 'Classmate PC' reveals itself at Computex (video)
Even though school's just getting out in most places around the world, the bulk of companies start announcing their back to school laptops just about... now! And we'd bet you that this 10-inch Mini Classmate netbook (the final name is still TBD) is what HP has in store for the kiddies come this fall. Unlike the Mini 5102, which has previously aimed at the younger set, this here netbook is quite chunky and reminds us of the original Intel Classmate PC -- it's made entirely of plastic and has a handle on its back. The one on display was covered in a pretty unattractive marshmallow-ish white, but our wildest fantasies have HP offering it in a slew of colors. Other than that, it boasted a grey-colored chiclet keyboard, was running SuSE Linux 11 -- it was actually on display at the Novell booth -- and had an Intel Atom processor. That's all we know for now, though we're assuming there are a bunch of child-proof features that aren't evident to the naked eye. Head on past the break for a brief hands-on video of this heretofore unannounced mini machine. %Gallery-94392%
Synaptics extends multitouch Gesture Suite to Linux, Chrome OS included
Well, it had to happen at some point. After eons of watching Mac OS and Windows users swiping away nonchalantly on their touchpads, Linux laptop buyers can now also join the multitouch fray. Synaptics has announced official Gesture Suite support for a wide range of Linux-based OS flavors -- Fedora, Ubuntu, RedFlag, SuSE, and Xandros get name-dropped, while future support for Chrome OS is promised -- which will all benefit from its set of multi-fingered touch and swipe responses. The infamous pinch-to-zoom is quite naturally included in the Suite, which will come bundled with new installations of those operating systems. We're not seeing any mention of a downloadable update as yet, but we imagine that'll be corrected in due course, whether by the company itself or the resourceful Linux community. Full PR after the break.
MSI rolls out U135 netbook pre-loaded with SUSE Moblin
Dell may have been the first to experiment with Moblin on an Atom-based netbook for developers, but it looks like MSI is the first to actually get one intended for regular consumers out the door, with it now announcing that it's shipping a version of its U135 netbook pre-loaded with Novell's SUSE Moblin OS (version 2.1, of course). Apart from that, the netbook itself apparently remains the same as the U135 we got our hands on last month, which packed a 10-inch screen, a 1.66GHz Atom N450 CPU, 1GB of RAM, and a 250GB hard drive. No word on any difference in price just yet, but it should be available sometime next month.
Shuttle intros Atom 330, SUSE Linux-packin' X270V nettop
Go 'head, Shuttle -- break on out of that shell! The company notorious for pumping out the same barebone rectangle with a different model name and a few extra ports has finally seen fit to do something a touch different, and what we're dealt is the X270V. This so-called Mini-PC relies on Intel's 1.6GHz Atom 330 to push the computations, while up to 2GB of DDR2 RAM keeps things in order. There's also gigabit Ethernet, 6-channel audio, a PS/2 connector for the retro folks, six USB sockets and VGA / DVI outputs. Shuttle also claims this bugger is energy efficient, though it doesn't go into great detail about just how much it'll save you each month. Oh, and it also comes loaded with openSUSE 11 (a Linux flavor, for those unaware). Interested? Move to Europe and plop down at least €299 ($390).[Via Slashgear]
HP begins offering Linux on enterprise desktops
HP just announced it will begin offering a desktop pre-loaded with a build of SUSE Linux. This joins the company's other non-Windows offering, the previously announced (but not yet available) Mini 1000 netbook, which is equipped with its Ubuntu-based MIE. The new model -- the Compaq dc5850 -- is unfortunately aimed at the enterprise and education markets, so while we're glad to see HP dipping its toes into open source waters, we'd be more enthused if the computer-maker followed in Dell's footsteps and offered a wider range of options. The PC will be available on December 15th for $519, though it doesn't appear that the average consumer will be able to buy it -- at least not yet.[Via Computerworld]
Apricot yanks Linux option for PicoBook Pro: it's for your own good
Just last week, we heard that Apricot Computers would be offering its PicoBook Pro with Linux or Windows XP, but evidently its marketing department caught wind of the same trend that MSI picked up on earlier this month. If you'll recall, MSI found that Linux-infused netbooks get returned four times as often as units with Windows XP, and while the official word is that Apricot "made this decision to ensure customers had a smooth installation of their operating system," our bets are that it's just sidestepping the potential headaches associated with selling something outside of the status quo. As of today, the Windows XP version (or only version, as it were) is going for £299 ($483) -- a full £20 ($32) more than the previously cheapest edition.[Via Yahoo!]
Penryn beginning to pop up in Lenovo's X61 ThinkPads
While we're short on formal announcements, various retailers are displaying Lenovo ThinkPad X61 wares with Intel's latest chips inside. A Penryn T8100-powered X61 is on MacMall with 1GB of RAM and a 120GB HDD for $1,550, while a T8300 version goes for $1,610. Specs are otherwise the same as existing ThinkPads, and no tablet version is offered. It's starting to feel like laptop manufacturers are stringing us along here, instead of offering next-gen laptops to match Intel's next-gen chips, but it's still early in the game, and maybe we're just paranoid. In other news, Lenovo has begun delivering SUSE Linux-based ThinkPad R61 and T61 laptops, with prices starting at $949 -- quite the improvement on 2006's "efforts."[Via Laptoping]Read - Penryn ThinkPadsRead - Linux ThinkPads
Lenovo still planning to sell SUSE Linux laptops
We're not sure why Lenovo (and anyone else) is making such a big stink about the fact that it's going to be selling laptops bundled with SUSE Linux on there -- they did announce this deal almost a year ago. Still, actually snagging a Linux ThinkPad is easier said than done (namely because the machines apparently weren't made available to consumers and businesses), so put your tuxes on, the pre-loaded Linux party starts Q4 for anyone with enough cash to snag one.
Microsoft says it's not bound by GPL v3
It's been a week since version 3 of the GPL was released, and the ripple effect is starting to make some pretty big waves: Microsoft -- which has been essentially selling Novell's SUSE Linux since last year -- released a terse statement today claiming that neither it nor its customers are parties to any terms of the revised license. Furthermore, "to avoid any doubt or legal debate on this issue," Microsoft will decline to support any GPL v3 code that might be distributed with SUSE. Microsoft does have a point: since Linux remains under GPL v2 (and probably will for the foreseeable future), there's very little binding them to the terms of GPL v3 -- specifically, the patent protection terms that would essentially undo the major element of the whole MS / Novell agreement. How the inclusion of GPL v3 code with SUSE affects the overall license is another matter entirely -- one that will result in a lot of legal chest-pounding until the GPL finally gets tested in an American court.Disclaimer: While the author of this post is a copyright attorney, its contents are not meant to constitute legal advice or analysis.[Via CNET]
Dell joins the Microsoft-Novell alliance, hopes for Windows / Linux harmony
The adoration for Linux that has been flowing from Round Rock of late is both refreshing and curious, and Dell has just taken its respect for the open-source OS to another level by signing on with Microsoft and Novell. While Linux users have long griped (and protested) about Microsoft, it's been no secret that Michael Dell has a thing for Ubuntu, and now it sounds like Dell will be "buying SUSE Linux Enterprise Server certificates from Microsoft," and moreover, "will be setting up a services and marketing program aimed at getting users of open-source platforms to switch to the new SUSE Linux offering." With the agreement inked, the Texas Powerhouse becomes the "first major systems provider to align with Microsoft and Novell in the collaboration," and judging by all the other recent Linux happenings in the Dell arena, we'd say this deal aligns perfectly with its current strategy.
Will it blend? Novell's IT smoothie mixes Vista, SUSE and Apple to gruesome effect
We enjoy a good "Will it blend?" episode just as much as the next YouTube addict, and this one takes the meme to new heights. Tom Dickson is on the scene to entertain Novell BrainShare attendees with an IT infrastructure smoothie. Naturally, this involves a copy of Vista from Novell's best buddy, a SUSE figurine, Apple Mighty Mouse and a can of Red Bull. The addition of "blades" adds a bit of suspense, but the end result seem to match IRL interoperability quite nicely -- we keed, we keed! Peep the video after the break.[Via Digg]
