Speaking at the LinuxWorld UK event in London, Novell UK’s technical director, Brian Green, laid out the list pricing for SLED and Windows Vista. Green said a business Vista license will set users back $299, compared to $50 for a one-year subscription to SLED.
One year’s maintenance for Vista would cost an additional $86, he added, bringing the total cost of Vista to $385 for the first year, compared to $50 for SLED. The savings increase over three years, he added, with Vista coming in at $557 and SLED $125.
Green admitted that businesses should also consider the cost of migrating users to Linux on the desktop, but maintained that there are also further potential savings to be made with Linux, such as the retention of older hardware. This is becoming more of an issue because of the changes to Microsoft’s next operating system next year, he said.
The hardware requirements of the Linux desktop are considerably less than the hardware requirements of competing products, he added, while encouraging businesses to at least take a look at Linux on the desktop. You do have a choice, he said. If your default decision is Microsoft, it’s time to think again.
