Deal signed with Novell to offer SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10 on Lenovo notebook computers.

Chinese PC giant Lenovo today announced at Linuxworld in San Francisco that it has inked a deal with Novell to offer SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10 operating system on a range of commercial notebooks including the ThinkPad T range, which are aimed typically at business users.

Both companies expect the new Linux-preloaded systems to be released at the beginning of fourth-quarter 2007.

Lenovo announced that for the first time it will take responsibility for both the hardware and software with Novell offering maintenance updates direct to ThinkPad users.

This isn’t the first time Lenovo has supported Linux on its notebooks with its ThinkPad range having been Linux-certified for a number of years.

"We have seen more customers utilizing and requesting open source notebook solutions in education, government and the enterprise since our ThinkPad T60p Linux announcement, and today's announcement expands upon our efforts by offering customers more Linux options," said Sam Dusi, vice president, product marketing, Notebook Business Unit, Lenovo. "Known for hardware and software based innovations like our roll cage and ThinkVantage Technologies, we continue our tradition of building the industry's best engineered PCs and delivering excellent customer solutions, such as SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10 from Novell."

Roger Levy, Novell vice president and general manager of Open Platform Solutions, said, "We are extremely pleased to partner with Lenovo in delivering this pioneering Linux preload to the enterprise client computing market. Pairing Lenovo's quality and innovation with the stability, flexibility and security advantages of the SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10 operating system gives enterprise customers the fully certified and supported Linux-based solution they have been seeking."

The latest ThinkPad T models feature a roll top cage to give added strength to the notebook chassis and screen plus the ability to boost battery life with the Battery Stretch tool.

The news comes a month after PC rival Dell announced it was releasing new desktop PCs and notebooks preloaded with the Ubuntu Linux operating system.