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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.