IBM took a huge step toward a Microsoft-free environment by unveiling a Linux-based desktop solution, which they promised will drive significant savings compared with Microsoft-desktop software. The company worked with Virtual Bridges and Canonical for the virtual desktop solution, which is already available in multiple languages and regions.

By comparison with Microsoft-based desktops, the Linux-desktop software promises to deliver not only the benefits of open standards, but also significant savings.

IBM estimated cost avoidances of $500 to $800 per user on software license; $258 per user in terms of hardware since there is no need to upgrade the support Vista or Office 2007; $40 to $145 per user from reduced power to run the configuration, and $20 to $73 per user from reduced air conditioning requirements from lower powered desktop devices annually.

In addition to that, it promises to allow 90 percent savings of deskside PC support, 75 percent of security/user administration, 50 percent of help desk services, and 50 percent for software installations.

“When we look back several years from now, I think we’ll see this time as an inflection point where the economic climate pushed the virtual Linux desktop from theory to practice,” Inna Kuznetsova, IBM Linux Strategy, said in a statement.

The Linux-based desktop solution runs open standards-based email, word processing, spreadsheets, unified communication, social networking, as well as other software to any laptop, browser or mobile device from a virtual desktop login on a Linux-based server configuration, IBM explained.