SALT LAKE CITY - Novell insists this isn't the end of NetWare.

However, NetWare 6.5 will indeed be the last operating system that customers can buy under that brand name. And Novell's next-generation operating system - Open Enterprise Server (OES), which includes NetWare and Linux kernels - will represent a radical departure from the NetWare that has been an industry staple for 20 years.

Customers and industry watchers interviewed last week at the company's annual BrainShare conference generally applauded Novell's latest move to embrace Linux. They said the company's strategy would increase the chances that customers will transition toward the company's Linux products rather than jump ship to Microsoft.

"What Novell is doing makes a lot of sense," says Al Gillen, research director of system software at IDC. "I don't see [the name change] as a negative. Customers need to have a pathway to move ahead. OES will give Novell customers more confidence that their deployments are safe."

OES will consist of a new NetWare kernel and the SuSe Enterprise Linux kernel, with services such as Novell's file, print, directory and management services layered on top.

Novell says renaming its flagship operating system was a difficult decision.

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"NetWare as a brand is generally positive to the people who use it, and it's sort of middle of the scale to people who don't know us, sometimes negative, sometimes positive," says Chris Stone, Novell's vice chairman, office of the CEO. "It's still a big part of our revenue - it keeps the lights on." NetWare accounts for 29% of the company's revenue.

As for customers, they say that Novell's strategy of using Linux and now OES as a migration tool gives them an out for what many might see as a dated operating system.

"We are a long-time Novell NetWare user," says Anthony Hill, CTO for Golden Gate University in San Francisco. "We are doing major technology overhauls across the board and were faced with staying with NetWare, which has become more of an island over time, or moving to Windows, which does not solve any of our goals.

"For me, I'm a bit neutral on [OES] because at the end of the day what I really want is a Linux-based platform," Hill says. "My goal is to get off NetWare, not because there are any inherent issues with it, but more from a consolidation point of view." Hill uses Novell's Nterprise Linux Services 1.0, GroupWise, ZENworks and eDirectory.