Lenovo (LNVGY) and Novell (NOVL) announced the industry's first Linux-based ThinkPad mobile workstations, which will run Novell's recently released SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10 operating system.

The workstations are based on Intel Centrino Duo mobile technology. This groundbreaking innovation, the result of a two-year research and development effort between Lenovo, Intel and Novell, allows electronic engineers engaged in integrated circuit and board level design the necessary support solution for numeric intensive applications in any mobile environment.

At just an inch thin and 4.7 pounds, the new Linux-supported ThinkPad T60p strikes the balance between productivity and portability.

With this new offering, Lenovo for the first time ever brings Help Center assistance to Linux customers who purchase select models of the ThinkPad T60p. The Help Center will offer support for select Lenovo ThinkVantage Technologies, drivers, basic Linux configuration and hardware issues. Novell will continue to support core operating system questions and issues.

"The ThinkPad T60p is a milestone for our collaboration and shared commitment with Novell to develop innovative and powerful workstation solutions," said Marc Godin, vice president of marketing for Lenovo's Worldwide Notebook Business Unit. "Engineers running intensive based applications can now leverage these enhanced features while working remotely in the Linux environment."

Several ThinkVantage Technologies, including the ThinkPad Configuration Utility, Power Manager and Access Connections are supported on the new Linux-enhanced ThinkPad T60p workstations.