The company maintains it is seeing a wider adoption of Linux-based operating systems across its customer base.
Pointsec for Linux 2.0 uses the Pointsec pre-boot login credentials to log in to Linux and is said to provide broader security for all system files starting from a pre-boot authentication.
Pointsec for Linux supports standard Linux kernels. The encryption software is FIPS and Common Criteria certified, and works from policies that can be managed and controlled centrally so that end users cannot interfere with it.
Analysts say that Linux on the desktop could well hit the corporate IT agenda in the coming year or so. New Linux products, combined with a new version of Microsoft’s Windows, are presenting desktop Linux vendors with their best opportunity so far to crack Microsoft’s hold on the desktop operating system market.
The fact that Vista will prove too power-hungry for many existing PCs could make Linux a viable alternative for some uses where cost-conscious CIOs are looking to avoid the double hit of hardware and software upgrades.
IBM has just launched a Notes client for Linux desktops, while Lenovo recently confirmed that it was introducing a mobile workstation running Novell’s SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop and version 10 of that operating system is considered to provide more than enough functionality for all but the most intensive corporate power-users.
