By Eric Auchard and Michael Kahn
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - IBM (IBM.N: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Sunday it will offer an open desktop software system for businesses that puts the cost of managing Apple or Linux computers on a more equal footing with Microsoft's Windows software, improving the economics of Windows alternatives.
The product -- which the company calls its "Open Client Offering" -- pulls together software IBM has developed in-house and with partners Novell Inc. (NOVL.O: Quote, Profile, Research) and Red Hat Inc. (RHAT.O: Quote, Profile, Research) to answer questions over the cost-effectiveness of managing Linux or Apple desktop PCs alongside Windows PCs.
International Business Machines Corp. said the new software makes it feasible for big businesses to offer their employees a choice of running Windows, Linux or Apple Macintosh software on desktop PCs, using the same underlying software code. This cuts the costs of managing Linux or Apple relative to Windows.
IBM's Open Client software chips away at long-time rival Microsoft's (MSFT.O: Quote, Profile, Research) Windows franchise by making it unnecessary for companies to pay Microsoft for licenses for operations that no longer rely on Windows-based software. The move comes as corporate decision-makers have begun to mull when it makes sense to upgrade to Microsoft's Windows Vista.
"We worked with the open source community and found a way to write software once that will work regardless of operating system. It will run on Windows, Macintosh or Linux," said Scott Handy, IBM's vice president of Linux and open source.
As an alternative to Microsoft, IBM will offer its own Open Document Format (ODF) software for tasks like word processing, spreadsheets or presentations, along with Lotus collaboration, instant messaging and blog tools, and the Firefox Web browser, which is the biggest rival to Microsoft's Internet Explorer.
IBM believes that using its software can cut the cost of managing applications, maintenance and customer support costs on company networks that need to run not just Windows but other software, Handy said. Technology market researchers Gartner and IDC estimate that it costs $4,000 to $6,000 to manage the average desktop PC of any office worker, he noted. Continued...
On Sunday the representatives of International Business Machines Inc. said that the company will launch its new desktop software system for businesses. IBM's new product is called “Open Client Offering”. The company hopes that its product will put Macintosh or Linux software on a more equal footing with Windows.

The Open Client Offering software was developed by IBM in-house, as well as with partners like Novell Inc. and Red Hat Inc. It is to answer the questions regarding the cost-effectiveness of managing Linux or Apple desktop personal computers alongside Windows PCs. 

IBM officials stated that Open Client Offering will allow enterprises to use the same software on  Windows, Linux or Apple's OS X. It will be unnecessary for companies using Open Client to pay Microsoft for licenses for operations because these will no longer rely on Windows-based software.

Scott Handy, IBM's vice president of Linux and open source, stated that the company worked together with the open source community and in the end found a way to develop a software that is able to function regardless of the operating system.

To create an alternative to Microsoft, IBM is going to offer Open Document Format software that the company developed for word processing, spreadsheets or presentations, instant messaging and blog tools and Internet Explorer's long time rival – Firefox Web browser. 

The software developers at IBM believe that the usage of Open Client Offering can cut the cost of managing applications as well as maintenance and cost regarding customer support on company networks that require other software rather than Windows.

PSA Peugeot Citroen, being the second largest car manufacturer, signed a multi-year agreement with Novell, which is the provider of Linux software, to run Linux on its 20,000 desktop PCs. In addition Linux will be installed on 2,500 server computers.      
   
RedMonk's analyst, Stephen O'Grady, said that today there is a strong appetite for Windows alternatives. However, he said, this doesn't mean that the alternatives are to displace Windows wholesales. O'Grady outlined that no one is going to significantly damage the desktop dominance of Microsoft.