Sun Microsystems plans to launch a desktop Linux initiative aimed squarely at rival Microsoft's desktop dominance, and China will probably play an important role.
The strategy will for the first time see Sun move from its stronghold in the corporate data centre to designing low-cost desktop personal computers.
Although the initiative is worldwide, much of the engineering and product design will come from Sun's Engineering Research Institute in Beijing, according to its director, Gong Li.
In a telephone interview from his office in Beijing, Mr Gong said China would play a large role in the initiative.
'A significant part of the engineering and product work will be done in Beijing,' he said.
These systems will be made from commodity hardware and components and will be accessed using a JavaCard, much as Sun's Sun Ray terminals are. The Linux clients will be able to run standard software including Sun's StarOffice, the Mozilla Web browser, Evolution e-mail software and Gnome, the desktop user interface.