HP considers own Linux-based OS

Hewlett Packard is reportedly considering building an alternative operating system to Microsoft Windows, based on Linux.

HP Touchsmart
(Credit: HP)

An article appearing in BusinessWeek last week cited anonymous sources who say Hewlett-Packard is at least looking into the matter. "Sources say employees in HP's PC division are exploring the possibility of building a mass-market operating system," the article stated.

The operating system would reportedly be Linux-based, but would be tweaked to be more accessible to mainstream users. Those same sources said it was part of an HP plan to become less dependent on Windows, and to compete better with Apple for the same type of person who would consider a Mac, which has its own operating system on its computers touted as more user-friendly than Windows Vista.

HP wouldn't confirm the report, but had previously been open about the formation of a new group within its Labs that developed the touch-screen technology and special software used in its TouchSmart PC. The software lets users get around certain features of Vista to do certain multimedia tasks more easily.

Phil McKinney, CTO of HP's Personal Systems Group, didn't deny the company was looking into the matter, but said it didn't make much sense to build its own operating system. "Is HP funding a huge R&D team to go off and create an operating system? (That) makes no sense," he told ,i>BusinessWeek.

Maybe not for HP, who's the world's leading purveyor of Microsoft software, through the approximately 50 million PCs the company ships around the globe each year. The article also points out Intel's recent support for Netbooks, mini-notebooks that use its Atom processor and run Linux, and Dell's decision to offer Linux as a Windows alternative on some of its PCs.

Whether Windows' dominance is in any actual danger of disappearing, Microsoft has already begun to fight back. Last week it rolled out the beginnings of a high-profile and expensive ad campaign starring its co-founder Bill Gates and comedian Jerry Seinfeld.