LINUX FROM PAGE 37 Microsoft formats and pro- Office, KOffice and Google ments rather well but can
workingaround Windows- tocols are undocumented Docs and Spreadsheets, introduce small format-
only software is choosing or otherwise closed off to among others, offer sup- ting errors in the sorts of
Linux-native applications open-source software. port that falls short of 100 complex documents that
that consume and produce One prominent exam- percent compatibility. Microsoft Office users
services and files in Micro- ple is Microsoft Office, the The Office format fil- often produce.
soft formats and protocols. binary formats for which ters for these applications The best way for compa-
The trouble here is that key Open Offic e.or g, Gnome h a n d l e s i m p l e d o c u - nies interested in carving
out a compatibility zone for
Linux and other non-Win-
dows platforms is to stick to
creating formatting-heavy
documents with applica-
tions that run on multiple
platforms, such as OpenOf-
fice.org.
Better hardware support
bolsters Linux desktops
FOR YEARS, MOST CIOS’ CHOICE IN DESK TOPS
has been Windows and Windows. (Well, with
the design department always managing to hang on
to a few Macs.) But things have changed. The Linux
desktop is now a viable option for both the small and
midsize business and corporate desktops.
What’s changed? For one thing, there’s now
little in the way of hardware functionality you
can’t get with the right combination of equipment and Linux distributions. Can you take any
Wi-Fi device off the shelf and be certain that it
will work with the Linux desktop? No, but with a
bit of research, you can be certain that all your
corporate laptops will run 802.11g with your
Alternatively, companies
that now collaborate on
rich documents by shuttling formatting-rich files
back and forth can reorient
their workflows such that
contributors work in a format no more complex than
what’s required to get their
work done. For instance,
it makes sense to contribute wording changes in
The XPS 410N is one of four
Linux-preloaded Dell machines. plain text format, and leave
desktop publishing tasks
to a limited group of collaborators who’re running
the best software for the
task at hand.
Linux desktop. What you can’t do today is simply pick and choose
This isn’t just Linux enthusiasts’ spin. Michael hardware without regard to what will and won’t work
Dell has announced that Dell will be supporting with the operating system. That said, however, it’s
Linux on its SMB lines within the next quarter. worth noting that you face the same dilemma with
Rumors are rampant that Hewlett-Packard, Microsoft Vista. Equipment that you know for certain
which has long supported Linux as an option on will work with XP may not be a sure bet when it
its business systems, will also soon offer it on a comes to Vista.
business desktop. Lenovo has just released the An additional point in the Linux desktop’s
latest in its line of laptops that support Linux, the favor is that if you upgrade to Vista, you will need,
ThinkPad T61p. even by 2007 standards, relatively powerful (that
Using a Linux desktop no longer means going it is, expensive) equipment. For example, to really
on your own for hardware support or hoping for the get work out of Vista Business and Microsoft
best from a small distributor. You can now get top Office 2007, you’d best have 2GB of RAM. SLED
support, such as Dell’s CompleteCare package, from or Ubuntu 7.04, which Dell currently ships in its
the major hardware vendors. consumer systems, require only 512MB of RAM for
At the same time, companies such as Novell decent performance.
are offering full-scale business support for its The bottom line? In 2007, PC hardware integra-Linux desktop line: SLED (SUSE Linux Enterprise tion and support with the major Linux desktops
Desktop) 10 SP1. In short, when you buy Linux have reached the point that Linux is a realistic
desktops today you can get all the hardware choice for any company from a mom-and-pop shop
and software support you’re used to getting from to the largest Fortune 500 enterprise. —Steven J.
first-tier OEMs. Vaughan-Nichols
This way, your docu-
ment creation processes
will be able to handle con-
tributions from any plat-
form, be it a Web browser
kiosk or home PC, a smart
phone or a thick Windows
Vista/Office 2007 rig.
Fortunately, the cross-
application document sup-
port issue appears to be
growing clearer, as Micro-
soft has moved to a new,
XML-based document for-
mat (Office Open XML) in
Office 2007 and has made
available plug-ins to add
OOXML support to pre-
vious versions of Office.
[CON TINUED ON PAGE 41]
