Nexedi and Mandrakesoft announce a revolution in Linux Desktop: rentalinux Desktop Linux Server

___ For Immediate Release ___

June, 15th 2004 - Nexedi and Mandrakesoft announce a revolution in Linux Desktop: rentalinux Desktop Linux Server. For the first time, organisations can benefit from the power of Mandrakelinux Desktop with no investment, no software installation and no changes to existing hardware or network. "rentalinux Desktop Linux Server" is a full featured turnkey solution which provides the power of 500+ Mandrakelinux Desktop applications to legacy PCs, Macintosh, Unix Workstations or to thin clients. Nexedi rentalinux Desktop Linux Server solution combines server hardware rental, software setup, custom configuration, support and maintenance service in a single package which makes it the easiest, least intrusive and most effective way to provide Linux Desktop applications for small to medium-sized networks. rentalinux service is available immediately in the European Union for a flat rate of 95 EUR / month and is expected to become available in the United States and Japan by the end of 2004.

Jean-Paul Smets, CEO of Nexedi explains: "small and medium organisations have been asking us for a Mandrakelinux Desktop which could become instantly available to all existing PCs or Macintosh and would require no technical skill to setup. After one year of research and development, we are now proud to introduce a proven solution which fully meets their requirements."

François Bancilhon, CEO of Mandrakesoft, adds: "we have partnered with Nexedi rentalinux to provide small and medium organisations with a new kind of packaged Mandrakelinux enterprise services at a reasonable cost. rentalinux provides instant turn-key solutions with no hidden costs: hardware is provided, customer specific system configuration service is included, assistance and support too. It is compatible with legacy systems and there are no transition costs."

Yoshinori Okuji, Director of R&D at Nexedi, points out that "rentalinux Desktop Linux Server is implemented with umibuilder custom distribution technology and published under Libre Software licenses. Users with technical skills can also benefit, at no cost, from rentalinux technology. We expect rentalinux Desktop Linux Server to also grow as a custom thin client server solution based on Mandrakelinux."

"Our Desktop Linux Server is also a great solution to implement cost efficient Linux Desktop", says Jean-Paul Smets, "together with thin client hardware, 75% cost savings and 90% energy savings can be obtained compared to traditional proprietary desktop solutions."

For Jean-Paul Smets, "rentalinux fills the gap between a conservative approach to Desktop solutions based on proprietary software and a complete migration to Mandrakelinux Desktop by early adopters." "With rentalinux, every organisation can immediately adopt Mandrakelinux desktop as a cost saving complement to legacy systems and later migrate at its own pace to a full Mandrakelinux Desktop solution." concludes François Bancilhon.

Additional information about rentalinux can be found at: http://www.mandrakestore.com/mdkinc/index.php?LANG_=en&tab_x...

About Nexedi rentalinux

Nexedi rentalinux provides complete turnkey solutions for network infrastructure which require no system configuration and no changes to legacy environment. Nexedi rentalinux subscription service allows small and medium organisations to benefit from high end Mandrakelinux Desktop and Security at a predictable cost. Please visit the website: http://www.rentalinux.com for more information.

Nexedi is a consulting and development services company helping small and medium organisations to choose open source / free software and fulfill their IT application needs. Nexedi is the founder of the ERP5 project, a Free / Open Source ERP software based on innovative technologies (www.erp5.org). Nexedi is the global coordinator of the OpenBrick embedded platform (www.openbrick.org). Nexedi customers include apparel industry, telecommunication industry, consumer electronics and government agency.

About Mandrakesoft

Mandrakesoft is the publisher of the popular Mandrakelinux operating system, one of the most full-featured and easy to use Linux systems available. The company offers its enterprise, government and educational customers a complete range of GNU/Linux and Open Source software and related services. Mandrakesoft products are available in more than 120 countries through dedicated channels and also from Mandrakestore.com, the company's online store. Number 1 in several countries, Mandrakesoft has won many awards for quality and technical innovation. "Born on the Internet" in late 1998, Mandrakesoft has offices in the United States and France. Mandrakesoft is traded on Paris Euronext Marché Libre (ISIN Code: FR0004159382/MLMAN; Reuters code: MAKE.PA) and the US OTC market (stock symbol MDKFF).

http://www.mandrakesoft.com