It made a and, a few

That campaign died quietly. For the past several years, HP hasn't shipped desktop PCs with Linux on them, though it has allowed customers to opt out of Windows upon which they could easily install the Linux of their choice.

"Apart from a very small volume of SLED desktops we started to ship in Asia last year, we haven't pre-installed SLED in quite some time," Stevens said.

Stevens said the new Linux desktops will be a little more expensive than near-blank, FreeDOS ones, but will cost "significantly less than a Windows Vista system.

"There is certainly a value proposition for customers," he said.