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By Matthew Broersma, 25 October 2002 09:05

NEWS Fans of desktop Linux firm Lindows.com have been assured by the company that its Lindows 3.0 operating system will be available on general release from mid-November. Lindows, which aims to directly challenge Microsoft's Windows on consumer PCs, is already on sale on some PCs from Evesham in the UK and from retailer Wal-Mart's US website, and can also be downloaded from Lindows.com's website. LindowsOS 3.0 Membership Edition, as it is called, will be the first time the software is easily available for purchase on an installation CD-ROM. The Membership Edition will also include a second CD containing a feature called Click-N-Run Express, speeding up installation of some of the more popular applications from Lindows.com's Click-N-Run Warehouse. Click-N-Run Warehouse automates the process of downloading and installing applications, and is a revenue earner for Lindows.com, because users must pay an annual subscription fee for access. But some applications - such as Sun Microsystem's StarOffice - are too large for modem users to conveniently download. The Click-N-Run system has come in for some criticism from the open source community, because users are paying for access to software that is for the most part itself free of charge. SuSE Linux, for example, costs less than Lindows and comes with several CD-ROMs containing thousands of applications. Lindows is a distribution of the Linux operating system, which is based on an open-source licence that requires it to be freely available for modification and redistribution. Most Linux applications also use open-source licensing. The Membership Edition will sell for £83 plus shipping and handling costs on Lindows.com's website. The price includes the two CDs, a manual, a year's membership to the Click-N-Run Warehouse and access to a downloadable copy of the software from Lindows.com's site. Those who only want the download will get a $10 discount. Matt Broersma writes for ZDNet.co.uk