Exclusive Preview of Red Hat 8.0: Bluecurve's Debut

Source: Linux Planet

Red Hat 8.0 is scheduled to be formally released on Sept. 30 and many in the Linux user community are watching the development of the new "Bluecurve" desktop design very closely.

In the retail edition of Red Hat that's coming out this Monday, the Linux vendor is replacing the traditional GNOME interface with Bluecurve, a Red Hat-created GUI theme combining elements of both GNOME and KDE, the major rival to GNOME (see Figures 1 and 2).

Bluecurve, the controversial new GUI in Red Hat 8.0, looks likely to appear in Red Hat Advanced Server, too, possibly with a few tweaks by Red Hat, but only if it scores points with users of Red Hat 8.0.

Depending on user reaction to 8.0, Red Hat will also consider rolling Bluecurve into the next edition of Advanced Server, set for release some time between May and November of next year, said Erik Troan, Red Hat's director of product marketing.

Red Hat won't need to look too far for user feedback. "The Linux community is vocal," Troan noted. Ultimately, though, 8.0 will face user surveys and focus groups. "We're waiting to see whether customers give [Bluecurve] a 'thumbs up,' or a 'thumbs down.' We'll include a new user interface in Advanced Server whenever it's ready for the enterprise," according to Troan.

Refuting industry speculation that Red Hat is trying to move into the desktop mass market, Troan said he doesn't expect 8.0 to make much of a dent in the overall Windows space, despite its new GUI. According to statistics from IDC, Red Hat's share of the retail pie climbed about 50 percent from 2000 to 2001.

Still, Red Hat's share remains "miniscule" compared to Microsoft's, Troan admitted. The 8.0 edition "won't be for your typical Microsoft Office/AOL user." Red Hat does hope to gain more ground, though, among technical users and other "single users" from both the Unix and Windows sides of the fence. "Single users" of 8.0 might range all the way from call center managers and Lotus Notes administrators to Wall Street analysts and photo editors, he illustrated. "Linux has some really cool photo editing apps."

Red Hat's current research shows that about 34 percent of its retail customers use Red Hat at home, 13 percent use Red Hat at work, and 50 percent use the product in both places.