A spokesperson from Lenovo (LNVGY), a Chinese PC vendor, says that the company is researching the "Microsoft Free" plan launched by IBM.

According to Information Week, Lenovo and IBM are actively discussing a plan that aims at introducing IBM's "Microsoft Free" software client into Lenovo's mass-market product. The formal name of this client solution is Open Collaboration Client Solution.

If the discussion between the two companies is successful, Lenovo would soon unveil PCs without Windows for the consumer and business markets.

The OCCS software package includes IBM's Lotus Notes email software and Lotus Symphony office software which run on an open source Linux operating systems provided by Ubuntu, Novell and Red Hat.

Earlier this year, IBM announced the "Microsoft Free" client software in Europe. On August 7, the company announced plans to expand the program to the U.S. market. So far, the program has been limited to local resellers of small and medium-sized companies.

Although the result is unclear, Lenovo's participation will greatly improve the influence of the "Microsoft Free" program. At the same time, it will pose a serious threat to Microsoft's dominance of the desktop PC market. Statistics show that Lenovo has become the world's fourth biggest PC manufacturer with a global market share of 7.8% of the personal computer market.