• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

HP becomes first major PC maker to use Linux system

Posted on: Wednesday, 17 March 2004, 06:00 CST

TOKYO (AP) With an Asia rollout announced Tuesday, Hewlett- Packard Co. becomes the first major PC maker to offer desktop computer lines running the open-source Linux operating system.

The move by HP, the world's largest PC maker, with about 17 percent market share, could be a threat to Microsoft Corp., maker of the market-dominating Windows operating system.

Linux is posed to become an especially strong competitor to Windows in Asia. Japanese, South Korean and Chinese officials have expressed concerns about becoming too dependent on Windows especially in the government sector and are exploring alternatives.

HP said its Linux PCs would be targeted at "emerging markets, where Windows PCs are not used so widely."

Linux is an open-source operating system, meaning its source code is freely distributed, though various companies sell Linux-based distributions tailored to specific tasks and markets.

The HP computers will use a Linux distribution from Turbolinux and will include the OpenOffice.org 1.1 suite of office- productivity software. OpenOffice is designed to be compatible with Microsoft Office.

Turbolinux said its Linux system will be offered on HP computers in 12 Asian locations: China, Hong Kong, Japan, India, Indonesia, South Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.

The Nihon Keizai Shimbun newspaper, a major Japanese business daily, reported Tuesday that sales of the HP Linux PCs will begin in June and shipments could reach 1 million units in the first year.

HP's move may prompt other PC makers to follow suit, since prices of Linux PCs are expected to be lower than those of Windows PCs.

More News in this Category