HP is once again announcing another Linux partnership, this time with the Linux distribution SuSE. With this new partnership HP's Compaq Business Notebook nx5000 will be running SuSE Linux and OpenOffice. It's pretty obvious that this notebook deal is just another move by HP to gain more notebook market shares. After all it has to be feeling the pressure from its notebook competitors Dell, Apple, etc... Still you have to wonder what direction HP is going in. Microsoft and HP have had long time partnership, but now HP is turning its attention towards Linux. What about Microsoft, can HP balance an partnership between the two?
Hewlett-Packard plans on Tuesday to unveil a new Centrino laptop that comes preloaded with SuSE Linux, the first major laptop maker to make such an offer.
The HP Compaq Business Notebook nx5000, which costs $1,199, has an Intel Pentium M processor and affiliated Centrino wireless technology. It can be ordered preloaded with SuSE Linux and OpenOffice, and is already available with Windows. The announcement is expected at the LinuxWorld Conference and Expo in San Francisco on Tuesday, but HP has already posted information about the Linux-based laptop on its Web site. Other vendors are expected to follow suit in the near future.
HP already sells PCs with using Linux from MandrakeSoft and TurboLinux, but the way was cleared for SuSE as well through a March deal with Novell. Generally, HP's Linux PCs sell for less than their Windows counterparts, at least overseas. The company sells Pavilion desktops in China with Windows and Linux. Spot checks at stores show a basic Linux Pavilion with a monitor selling for about $700, while the Windows XP version sells for $60 more.
News source: C|Net News.com
