The world's largest Linux vendor Red Hat will release a pre-installed desktop version of Linux globally in September. The new Red Hat desktop targeting primarily small business users will be available on cheap whitebox Intel PCs and, according to Red Hat, will not try to be a Windows clone.

More at iTWire.

Interesting move. I wonder what the uptake on these will be. Red Hat is pretty dominant on the server side with good enterprise-level support and certified partners that help pull in the big guys. When it comes to the desktop though, Linux is still nowhere, but it seems the big shift we've all been waiting for has begun.

With pre-installed boxes possibly holding the answer to cracking business customers, I guess it'll be a two-horse race between Ubuntu on Dell and Red Hat.

It's good to see this. It means we're attempting to get Linux out there on more and more desktops. Of course, Ubuntu has seen the desktop implementation increase a lot more because of it's ease-of-use for Windows users to switch.

I'm all for the increase in Linux as a whole, be it server or desktop. It's all I use on the desktop nowadays, with Windows being fired up occasionally for rare needs.