And even Eazel, a pure Linux play, is looking into providing interfaces for Web-pads and other non-PC devices, the analyst said. Corel is moving to focus on graphics software, including applications for the Windows platform. Sun’s StarOffice is a staging platform for their server-side applications suite, which sells profitable servers. CodeWeavers and Corel are both working on the WINE project, which is a set of software tools that let Windows programs move to Linux with very little re-writing necessary.įinally, Dell, Compaq, Sun and IBM showed off a range of Linux-powered desktop machines.īut all of these companies are hedging their bets, Le Tocq said. Borland’s new Kylix allows users of their popular Delphi application development system to move to Linux. “We want to sell iron,” said Gina Centoni, head of Sun's Webtop applications division.īorland, Corel and a smaller company, CodeWeavers, announced moves to help port Windows software over to Linux. Sun’s StarOffice is free because the company makes money selling computers to run StarOffice. Ximian said today that they’ve aligned with Hewlett-Packard to ship their desktop with HP-UX, HP’s high-end, non-Linux Unix system.Ĭorel and Sun showed office suites to replace Microsoft Office, which is ubiquitous on other systems but missing on Linux. Of the two, Eazel had the big announcements this week: Dell’s Linux machines will ship with Nautilus, and major Linux manufacturer Red Hat will make Nautilus their desktop of choice. Both have automatic software download-and-install tools to help users dodge complicated Linux install processes. Eazel’s Nautilus product, designed by a team that includes original designers of the Apple Mac interface, has slick icons that actually let you see the contents of your files.

Ximian provides a “time travel” feature which can restore your system to a past state if you screw something up. Both are based on GNOME, an open-source interface project. Two companies, Boston-based Ximian and Eazel, based in Mountain View, Calif., hope to change that with slick user interfaces. Linux comes in various flavors such as Red Hat, Caldera and Corel, but none comes close to Microsoft’s Windows or Mac’s OS in ease of use. Various companies at the expo showed off four missing pieces of the Linux-at-your-desk equation. Linux currently has less than five percent of the desktop market in the U.S., according to research firm International Data Corp.

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