Linux Solutions

On Wednesday Both Novell and Red Hat updated their Linux operating systems, adding improvements to desktops, networking, virtualization, management and hardware support.

We spoke about Red Hat’s RHEL 5.2 yesterday, so it’s only fair Novell’s SUSE Linux Enterprise 10 service pack (SP2) gets a look in.

Novell has added support for Xen 3.2 to its server platform, SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES), and support for fully virtualized Windows Server 2008 and 2003 platforms. In addition, Novell now supports live migration of Windows guests across physical machines.

Novell’s support of the Windows platform is due to the cross-licensing patent deal it signed with the computer giants in 2006 and an interoperability lab the pair opened in 2007.

Novell has also updated its YaST (Yet another Set-up Tool) to ease boot-ups and add network module support for new devices.

The desktop’s had an overhaul too. Novell has added local NTFS file support to improve interoperability with Windows and Office, improved integration with Active Directory and upgraded Open Office.org 2.4 Novell Edition, a set of productivity applications. This now includes a technical preview of an Office Open XML (OOXML) translator.

Novell have also added plug-and-play support for wireless broadband (UMTS, 3G) and Network Manager enhancements.

To help users manage distribution of updates, Novell has added a new tool called Subscription Management Tool for SUSE Linux Enterprise. The SP2 release also includes updates to Heartbeat2 and OCFS2 for high availability and storage management, support for IBM cryptographic hardware, support for IPv6 and enhancements to network, storage and other drivers for better hardware compatibility.

New real-time support features include OpenFabrics Enterprise Distribution 1.3, adaptive locking and the Precise Timing Protocol.

Novell also updated several tools in its SUSE Linux Enterprise Software Development Kit, including KIWI, YaST2 Product Creator, YaST2 Add-on Creator and YaST2 Image Creator.