IBM takes aim at Windows 7 with new desktop offering

20.10.2009
 is trying to hit Microsoft where it hurts, with a new offering designed to lure customers away from Windows 7.

IBM Tuesday said it is teaming up with Canonical to provide cloud- and Linux-based desktop packages in the United States at half the cost of upgrading to Windows 7. It's called the IBM Client for Smart Work package, which was initially last month in Africa, as it was designed for emerging markets.

But IBM sees an opportunity to extend the product to the United States "to help companies avoid the higher licensing, hardware upgrades and migration costs associated with Microsoft Windows 7," as IBM said in an announcement.

Despite announcing the product Tuesday, IBM and Canonical say it won't be widely available from its full lineup of partners until 2010. That gives the industry's dominant operating system vendor a significant head start, with Microsoft's Windows 7 set for on Thursday.

But IBM says the Client for Smart Work package, which is based on IBM's productivity and collaboration software, will give customers a less expensive alternative to Windows by taking advantage of existing PCs or low-cost and thin clients.