IBM has recently started a campaign to promote open source software products. The two directions in which the company is going in its attempt are to convince more computer manufacturers to start delivering Microsoft-free laptops and PCs and Linux developers to stop looking at the Redmond-based company products for inspiration.

IBM proposed PC manufacturers to adopt its Microsoft-free client, which is called the Open Collaboration Client Solution (OCCS), a software package comprised of the company's free Lotus Symphony and Lotus Notes suits, which are supposed to run on Linux-based operating systems developed by companies like Novell, Red Hat or Canonical.

The computers that would be delivered with IBM's OCCS package would cost far less than the ones that run Microsoft software. This is caused by the fact that PC manufacturers that choose Microsoft as the company whose software would be delivered with the hardware they create have to pay the software giant license fees for its products. This dramatically increases the price that the customers have to pay for the end product.

The OCCS-based PCs will address the potential customers that have little money to spend, as well as companies that need to cut costs.

The Chinese PC manufacturer Lenovo is rumored to have begun talks with IBM to join the company's initiative.

As far as the message that IBM delivered to Linux developers is concerned, the company explicitly told them that they should stop looking at Windows for inspiration because that is not where the usability lies. The company has instead encouraged the developers to start looking at Apple's Mac OS if they truly want to turn Linux into a widespread operating system.