Intel Touts Linux over Windows in Asia
1 January 1970Elizabeth Millard, www.enterprise-linux-it.com
Intel has launched an effort to make it easier for the company's Chinese and Indian customers to build and buy desktop computers that run Linux (news - web sites) rather than Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT - news) Windows software.
The company is providing its Asian customers with documentation, resources, and software drivers in a bundled kit to boost adoption of Intel-based desktops that use the Linux operating system, according to news reports.
The bundle supports three versions of Linux, including Red Hat (Nasdaq: RHAT - news) Desktop, Novell (Nasdaq: NOVL - news) Linux Desktop 9 and Red Flag Desktop 4.1. Intel has noted that it will support Linux from the China Standard Software in the future.
On the Desk
The promotion of Linux for the desktop marks a change for Intel, which has supported Linux for the server sector, but not for the desktop market.
Intel's timing, however, is not surprising. Asian companies in particular are becoming more interested in using Linux, and strategies for getting Linux to the desktop have appeared in India, Japan and China, among other countries.
In making a play for Asian Linux adoption, Intel is mirroring IBM's (NYSE: IBM - news) efforts in the region. It is possible that Intel will even follow IBM's lead in establishing centers of expertise in order to deliver Linux-based services.
The company has said that it is looking at opening centers in two Chinese cities, Beijing and Guangdong, as well as one in Mumbai, India, news reports noted.
Windows on the World
Linux-focused strategies like Intel's are having an effect on more than Asian users. They also are affecting the way that Microsoft is doing business in that region, Yankee Group analyst Laura DiDio told NewsFactor.
Although Windows has a strong hold on the Asian market, with estimates placing its dominance at about 95 percent, DiDio said Microsoft is still aggressively fighting Linux to keep that hold.
"Microsoft is very focused on the Asia Pacific region right now, because many firms there are looking at Linux," DiDio said.
The company has been offering price breaks and sending executives to Asia to make sure that Linux does not tread first into untapped markets, she added.
"They don't want to lose these customers before they even have a chance to talk to them," she noted.
Source: NewsFactor via Yahoo
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