MSI has chosen SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop (or SLED) as the operating system for the company’s MSI Wind U90 netbook. The U90 is virtually identical to the U100, except that it has an 8.9 inch display instead of a 10.2 inch screen, ships with Linux (for now), and will not be available in the US anytime soon.

Engadget snapped about two dozen photos of the U90 recently, including several showing the operating system and the big ole bezel that MSI uses to snap an 8.9 inch display into a computer case designed for a larger screen.

SLED is also the Linux OS that HP chose to use for the cheapest models of the HP Mini-Note lineup. The operating system uses the KDE desktop environment, which has a kind of Windows-like feel, which makes it a good choice for users who may be less than familiar with Linux. But I still probably would have prefered to see MSI choose a more popular distro, like Ubuntu, which has a huge user community which functions as a sort of global support team.

Update: As has been pointed out in the comments, the version of SLED used on the HP Mini-Note uses Gnome, not KDE although both desktop environments are available. I’m not certain which the MSI Wind will use.

Support Liliputing

Liliputing's primary sources of revenue are advertising and affiliate links (if you click the "Shop" button at the top of the page and buy something on Amazon, for example, we'll get a small commission).

But there are several ways you can support the site directly even if you're using an ad blocker* and hate online shopping.

Contribute to our Patreon campaign

or...

Contribute via PayPal

* If you are using an ad blocker like uBlock Origin and seeing a pop-up message at the bottom of the screen, we have a guide that may help you disable it.

Subscribe to Liliputing via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 9,547 other subscribers

4 replies on “MSI Wind U90 runs SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop”

  1. Are you sure that SLED comes with the KDE desktop.

    The HP 2133 versions with SLED use Gnome by default.

  2. I have to admit I’m a little confused by the “support” comment . . . regardless of what you think of Novell, SLED does come with customer support, and even though they’re not the same, there’s always https://forums.opensuse.org/

    IMO, it’s a better choice than Xandros or Linpus . . .

    1. In my experience, I’ve always found it much easier to get answers to
      questions about Ubuntu than any other Linux distro. But you’re right, Novell
      does offer support, and there is a user community so I probably could have
      phrased that better.

Comments are closed.