| Linux desktop vendor Xandros reorganizes |
Oct. 19, 2006
 On October 18, Linux distributor Xandros was reorganized, resulting in the loss of at least five jobs and a change in CFOs. The company, which positions its desktop-oriented Linux distribution as an easy migration path from Windows, has never gained significant momentum in the market.
One source told DesktopLinux.com that ten employees had been cut from the small business, including staff in tech support, marketing, and sales.
According to Xenia von Wedel Rosen, the firm's outside public relations representative, however, Xandros actually lost five employees, and they were all from marketing. This was part of a reorganization of the company, she said.
In addition, Xandros has a new CFO, Spencer Hayman, and will be taking a new marketing direction. Sources close to the company indicate that Xandros may be switching from focusing on the Linux desktop market to servers -- a growing emphasis, as well, for desktop Linux vendors Mandriva and Canonical/Ubuntu.
Xandros already offers a server, Xandros Server, which has been well-received. It won the best integration solution at LinuxWorld 2006 in Boston.
Xandros, which built its distribution from the first Linux desktop -- Corel Linux Desktop -- has long been in the desktop field, but has never attracted that many users. In the recent DesktopLinux survey, Xandros came in 9th place, with only 0.8 percent of those surveyed using the Debian-based distribution.
This poor showing has come about even though the Xandros distribution has almost always received very favorable reviews. For example, ExtremeTech reported that, "It has remained one of the easiest to use and flat out slickest Linux distributions available." And, in a DesktopLinux.com review, the latest version got a "big thumbs up" and was particularly recommended for Windows 98 and other "orphan" Windows users.
-- Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols
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