HP, Blueloop and Omni partnered to deliver a 12-station Internet café running off two standard HP desktop computers at an international GroupWise conference held in Telford, UK.

Each HP desktop computer was running Novell's new SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10 operating system and a software add-on called the Linux Desktop Multiplier. The Linux Desktop Multiplier enables up to 10 independent stations - consisting of only a monitor, keyboard and mouse - to work at the same time on a single desktop computer.

"BrainStormer UK attendees had an opportunity to experience GroupWise 7, GroupWise Messenger 7, Evolution and OpenOffice 2.0 running on a 'multiplied' SLED 10 desktop," says Aldo Zanoni, CEO of Omni. "The Linux Desktop Multiplier delivers significant hardware, software and management savings for organisations that are considering Linux for public-access computers, computer labs, Internet kiosks and call centers."

"System performance was absolutely stellar," reports Robin Barker, Marketing Director for Blueloop. "All 12 stations were occupied regularly during the four-day conference, and we even had a few line-ups to access the machines. We are already in receipt of orders and are planning our next Internet café in October at LinuxWorld in London," continues Barker.

The physical connection of the monitors and USB devices is made possible by additional dual-head video cards and powered USB hubs. The multi-station system outperforms thin clients at a fraction of the cost.