SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop vs. Windows Vista

Get More for Your Money

Table of Contents

Read more about why SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop is the compelling alternative to Windows Vista +

• You'll Pay Too Much for Windows Vista
  • Hardware: a Hidden Cost of Using Windows Vista
  • Management: Another Hidden Cost of Windows Vista
• If you need Security, Windows Vista is Risky Business
• Delivering Features that Match or Exceed Those in Windows Vista
• Peaceful coexistence with Your Existing Windows Environment

You'll Pay Too Much for Windows Vista

"SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10 has the feature set, compatibility and flexibility to meet the needs of most corporate desktop users. What's more, at a price point roughly one-tenth of what Vista and Office 2007 will cost, SUSE Linux becomes harder to ignore."
Olhorst and Moltzen, CRN, June 2006

When you are considering the value of Linux vs. Vista, you need to weigh many factors. Let's start with cost. Cost is not always the most important consideration when you look for a desktop platform, but if you are purchasing hundreds or thousands of desktops, it becomes a vital part of the equation. The total cost of machines stretches far beyond the initial licensing fee.

In the past, you were forced to spend much more for desktops than ncecessary because you were buying them from Microsoft*. When the high licensing fees of Windows* desktops are accompanied by additional costs -- including Software Assurance (SA) for maintenance, office productivity tools and new hardware to run the software adequately -- the price of your Windows desktops quickly becomes excessive. And that's before you add the costs of a System Management Server to manage your desktops, and of Client Access Licenses (CAL) that allow you to access server software such as Exchange Server.

Moreover, even if you sign up for a three-year Software Assurance agreement, you might not actually receive a new release of desktop Windows because Microsoft innovation and development are so slow. (More than five years passed between the release of Windows XP and Windows Vista.) When you use Windows on the desktop, you are using software that lags the rest of the industry in innovation. For instance, only recently has Microsoft added functionality to Internet Explorer (IE) to make it somewhat comparable to Mozilla Firefox. When you consider the loss of business due to numerous Windows security flaws and the required System Management Server to manage your desktops, it's no wonder that IT managers worldwide are clamoring for a lower-cost alternative.

SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop is the compelling alternative to Windows Vista and is available for just US$50. Pricing for Windows Vista is not only more complex, but it's also considerably higher, as shown here. The cost of a Windows Vista license with one year of maintenance is more than seven times the cost of a SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop one-year subscription, and in a three-year comparison it costs more than four times the price of a SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop subscription.

	SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10	Windows Vista Business	Windows Vista Ultimate
License/Subscription Fee	US$50	US$299	US$399
Maintenance (per year)	Included in subscription fee	US$87 (29% of license)	US$116 (29% of license)
Total (one year)	US$50	US$386	US$515
Total (three years)	US$125	US$559	US$746

Source: Microsoft and Novell, January 2007 ¹

Hardware: a Hidden Cost of Using Windows Vista

Microsoft Office 2007 for Windows Vista costs about US$400–US$500 per user, making the cost of Windows Vista with a single productivity tool US$700–US$800 per user. SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop comes bundled with OpenOffice.org 2.0 so you end up receiving 90 percent of the functionality of Windows Vista plus Microsoft Office at 10 percent of the cost. Buying a Windows Vista license and Microsoft Office 2007, along with paying for maintenance, is not the end of your costs. You will almost certainly have to buy new hardware to run some of Windows Vista's new features (such as Aero Glass, Microsoft's new 3-D graphical interface). And if you have not upgraded your hardware in the past year, you may have to buy new hardware just to run Windows Vista, even without Aero Glass.

Nigel Page, a Microsoft Technical Strategist, has given his hardware requirements to take advantage of Aero Glass: Dual-core CPU running at 4GHz to 6GHz, 2GB of memory, a large hard disk, a graphics card with 256MB onboard memory and a high definition monitor. But even non-power users will likely face the expense of new hardware. Microsoft's published minimum hardware requirements to run Windows Vista include:

• A Vista-capable PC will require at least an 800MHz processor, 512MB memory, a DirectX 9- capable graphics card, a 40GB hard drive, a DVD drive, and audio and Internet capabilities.
• A Vista Premium Ready PC requires a 1GHz x86 or x64 processor, 1GB memory, a graphics card with 128MB of onboard memory as well as a 40GB hard drive, a DVD drive, and audio and Internet capabilities

Management: Another Hidden Cost of Windows Vista

You should also consider the cost of managing Vista environments with Microsoft Systems Management Server (SMS) 2003. With a mere 25 desktops, the management software cost reaches $6,055:

• $3,999 for a Windows Server 2003 license to manage 25 Vista desktops (Windows Server + 25 Client Access Licenses)
• $2,056 for a SMS 2003 license to manage 25 Vista desktops (SMS + 25 Client Management Licenses)

Conversely, ZENworks Linux Management 7 from Novell – offering comparable functionality – costs only $69 per user, or $1,725 for 25 users.

ZENworks Linux Management augments YaST tools, providing centralized control over enterprise systems, desktop lockdown, imaging, remote control, inventory, and software management. It includes a subscription to the Novell Customer Center (integrated with ZENworks Linux Management). ZENworks Linux Management's patch management capabilities exceed those of SMS while supporting third party and non-Microsoft patches. Conversely, SMS can only patch Windows systems. ZENworks Linux Management also boasts very efficient rollback, backup, and migration capabilities.

If you need Security, Windows Vista is Risky Business

When you think of Windows security, infamous viruses, worms, and long delays in patching come to mind. Security flaws are costing organizations hundreds of millions of dollars per year as they patch Windows and install new service packs (SPs) marketed as providing better security. Gartner estimates that Windows security vulnerabilities have increased desktop TCO by as much as US$200 per user per year.

Microsoft does not have security technology to compete with Novell AppArmor™. Vista's User Access Protection (also called User Account Control) reduces the likelihood that an intruder can gain control of an entire system, but according to Vista beta users and a survey completed by the Yankee Group, this feature and others do not perform quite as well as advertised.

In last week's column about Windows users becoming increasingly disenchanted with Microsoft because of security issues, I suggested that the improvements in Windows Vista may have come too late and may not be enough.

Will users who are frustrated with viruses and other malware be willing to trust Microsoft one more time with a significant investment in another version of Windows? It's a case of Microsoft saying, "Trust us, really, we got it right this time. Honest."

...Will Vista's architecture be more secure than past versions of Windows? Microsoft insists it is, but judging from reports that there already is a hot market among hackers for code that takes advantage of apparently unpatched flaws in Vista, that remains to be seen.

Vista security: A close look
Houston Chronicle
Dwight Silverman
December 2006

Novell AppArmor, which ships with SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop, ensures a more secure desktop than Windows Vista's security measures. In fact, some of Vista's security features are so intrusive that many reviewers -- including those from the Yankee Group -- think users may simply turn them off.

In a May 2006 eWeek article, Report Casts Doubt on Vista's Security Impact, we find this summary: "News Analysis: In a scathing review of the security features built into preview versions of Microsoft's upcoming Windows Vista operating system, one analyst contends that the software giant's highly-touted security features are self-defeating and may cause some customers to put off adoption of the OS altogether."

How it works

Novell AppArmor protects applications and systems against attacks and latent defects by isolating and controlling all applications that face the network. Many desktop applications communicate with the outside world through open network ports, leaving the application and its host vulnerable to attack. AppArmor addresses threats inherent in many essential desktop applications by detecting and isolating unusual behavior by any given application.

System administrators can restrict applications to specified path names, behaviors and access modes. Then, if the application begins to take non-approved actions, AppArmor isolates it, preventing applications from corrupting files and spreading viruses. AppArmor is transparent to applications, and users do not have to stop and restart a system to change AppArmor's security policies.

AppArmor is designed for usability. SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop customers can write their own security policies with a minimum of assistance from Novell. A security policy developed for an application can be easily applied on other SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop systems running that same application. Moreover, AppArmor security policies can be centrally managed through Novell ZENworks Linux Management, significantly reducing administration time and costs.

Delivering Features that Match or Exceed Those in Windows Vista

SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop already compares favorably with Windows Vista in terms of usability/functionality while gaining the lead over Microsoft in desktop innovation. SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop delivered functionality in July 2006 that Microsoft has been trying to include in Windows Vista during the five years since Windows XP was released. The following table provides a quick and easy comparison of bundled functionality:

Functionality	SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop	Windows Vista
Usability-tested user interface	"Design first" methodology	Extensively tested interface
Integrated search	Beagle®	Vista Integrated Search
Complete Web browsing	Firefox	Internet Explorer
Multimedia support	RealPlayer from RealNetworks	Microsoft MediaPlayer
	Macromedia Flash Player	Microsoft Photo Editor
	Totem	Windows Movie Maker
	Helix Banshee™	RealPlayer from RealNetworks
	F-Spot
3-D rendered interface	3-D desktop effects	Aero Glass
Productivity applications	OpenOffice.org with Visual Basic support	No office suite included.
	Tomboy	The standard choice is Microsoft Office at an added cost.
Collaborative applications	Novell Evolution™	Outlook Express
	Gaim instant messenger

Peaceful Coexistence with Your Existing Windows Environment

Because desktop users have to work with a company's existing infrastructure, SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop is designed to interoperate with Microsoft Active Directory*. Novell has more than 20 years' experience working with Windows desktops in its NetWare® server environments. We have integrated this knowledge into SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop so organizations can leverage their existing investments. Novell understands that users need to reduce and contain costs. SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop is designed to easily coexist not only with Windows, but also with Mac* OS X, UNIX* and other operating systems.

Talk to us about Windows Vista vs. SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop.