Novell ships Groupwise for Linux, bringing world-class collaboration to the Linux Enterprise.

Novell (Nasdaq:NOVL) has announced the availability of the most trusted and secure collaboration platform in the industry running entirely on Linux: Novell GroupWise 6.5 for Linux. Available April 15, GroupWise 6.5 for Linux brings the reliability and rich feature set of a proven collaboration environment to the Linux enterprise, giving customers the ability to choose the network platform they want while still being able to take advantage of a world-class enterprise collaboration solution.

A Novell Nterprise product, GroupWise handles e-mail, calendaring, instant messaging, contact management, document management and workflow services across network operating systems including Novell NetWare, Windows NT*/2000 and now Linux. Later this year, Novell's award-winning Ximian Evolution--an e-mail and workgroup client for Linux-based systems--will feature native support for GroupWise for Linux. In addition, basic GroupWise plug-in support for the Gaim instant messaging client will be available in the next 30 days, distributed through the Gaim open source project.

"Millions of users have experienced the security, reliability and flexibility of GroupWise running on NetWare," said Chris Stone, Novell vice chairman--Office of the CEO. "Now millions more will experience those advantages firsthand on Linux, getting the benefits and cost savings they need on the platform of their choice. With Novell's recent acquisition of SUSE LINUX, we're now the only vendor who sells and supports a world-class Linux-based collaboration solution along with the underlying Linux operating system."

While Ximian Evolution will connect Linux desktops with GroupWise 6.5 for Linux, the GroupWise Windows client and the GroupWise Cross-Platform client are also supported on GroupWise 6.5 running on a Linux server, giving customers added choice and flexibility. The plug-in for the Gaim instant messaging client will allow Linux desktops to connect directly to the GroupWise Messenger server included in GroupWise 6.5 for secure instant messaging within the enterprise. GroupWise for Linux is supported on the SUSE LINUX Enterprise Server and Red Hat* Enterprise Linux distributions.

John Loyd, CIO of Jefferson County (Colo.), said, "Novell's GroupWise Cross-Platform client has already become a standard part of our organization's Linux desktop, and the availability of the entire GroupWise collaboration solution on Linux will only make it easier for us to make platform decisions that make sense for Jefferson County. With GroupWise running on Linux, there are no trade-offs between cost savings, security and functionality."

Novell GroupWise combines stringent security with flexible user access features and low ownership and maintenance costs. GroupWise caters to the way people really work, giving them access to their information when and where they need it through the client or Web browser via desktop and laptop computers, wireless telephones, PDAs and RIM* devices. More than 34 million GroupWise users currently take advantage of lower total cost of ownership, including lower initial costs combined with lower administration costs, advantages not available from products like Exchange and Notes.