WAKEFIELD, Mass. — 10/30/2002 — From its initial availability on Sept. 23, over 15,000 downloads of the UnitedLinux beta release were initiated, the UnitedLinux group reported today. This figure translates to more than 500 downloads per day - an impressively high rate. UnitedLinux is a standards-based Linux operating system targeted at the business user, the result of an industry initiative to streamline Linux development and certification around a global, uniform distribution of Linux. UnitedLinux founding companies are Linux industry leaders Conectiva S.A., The SCO Group, SUSE Linux AG, and Turbolinux, Inc.

"The large number of downloads of our beta release, by individuals and organizations from countries around the world, demonstrates the high level of global interest in the Linux operating system and in UnitedLinux deliverables in particular," said Paula Hunter, general manager of UnitedLinux. "We know we are offering a quality distribution, and expect a number of the download recipients to become early adopters of UnitedLinux Version 1.0. Clearly we are poised to deliver on our goal of broad enterprise deployment of Linux worldwide."

Hunter spoke from the LinuxWorld Conference in Frankfurt, where she is delivering a presentation today, Wednesday, Oct. 30, entitled "UnitedLinux: A Global Partnership Delivering Linux for the Enterprise."

The UnitedLinux operating system is geared for the enterprise. UnitedLinux Version 1.0 will be compliant with existing Linux standards such as Linux Standard Base (LSB) and OpenI18N (internationalization and localization), and will be available in English, Japanese, Simplified and Traditional Chinese, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, German, French, and Hungarian. Supported by leading global ISVs and IHVs, UnitedLinux will have local language and local time zone support for customers around the world, with a channel of more than 16,000 resellers and a global pre- and post-sales support team.

About UnitedLinux

UnitedLinux is a partnership of industry-leading Linux companies combining their intellectual property, geographic mind share, sales, support and marketing expertise to produce a uniform distribution of Linux designed for business. UnitedLinux applies the collaborative development model of open source to the business model to enable a one-stop shop for developers, partners and customers to install, support and maintain quality business solutions based on Linux anywhere in the world. UnitedLinux is actively recruiting membership for both industry software developers and those who provide Linux as an integral part of their business solutions. For more information, visit www.unitedlinux.com or call UnitedLinux at +1-781-876-8989.

About Novell
Novell, Inc. is a leading provider of information solutions that deliver secure identity management (Novell® Nsure™), Web application development (Novell exteNd™) and cross-platform networking services (Novell Nterprise™), all supported by strategic consulting and professional services (Novell NgageSM). Active in the open source community with its Ximian and SUSE Linux brands, Novell is firmly committed to open source and offers comprehensive Linux products and services for the enterprise, from the desktop to the server. Novell's vision of one Net - a world without information boundaries - helps customers realize the value of their information securely and economically. For more information, call Novell's Customer Response Center at (888) 321-4CRC (4272) or visit http://www.novell.com. Press should visit http://www.novell.com/pressroom.

Novell is a registered trademarks; Nsure, exteNd and Nteprise are trademarks; and Ngage is a service mark of Novell, Inc. in the United States and other countries. SUSE is a registered trademark of SUSE Linux AG. * All third-party trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Press Contact:
Jasmin Ul-Haque
Novell, Inc
Phone: +44 (0)1344 326-900
E-mail: juh@novell.com