1 April 2004 MandrakeSoft, the Linux distributor that finally emerged from bankruptcy protection this week, says it will shortly release a new version of its open source operating system product.

The Paris-based company, which spent 14 months in France’s equivalent of administration, says that version 10.0 will be aimed at the desktop and will emphasise ease of use and installation.

The new product is likely to be available from May 2004. A preliminary version can already be downloaded from the company’s web site.

The product has been hailed by Linux enthusiasts as a good general-purpose operating system, suitable for newcomers and experienced developers alike.

The release marks a change of fortunes for the Linux distributor, which almost went bust after debts ballooned to €4 million in 2002.

Creditors agreed a package under which some debts may not have to be paid off for nine years.

The deal came after MandrakeSoft reported its first profitable quarter since 1999. In the fourth quarter of 2003, the company generated profits of €270,000 on sales of €1.4 million.

The new desktop version of Mandrake’s distribution follows a building of industry support behind Linux on the desktop from IBM, Hewlett-Packard, Novell and Sun Microsystems.