The two largest vendors of Linux distros to the enterprise market, Red Hat and Novell, have both independently confirmed this week that they have no plans to market a consumer desktop Linux product in the near future, citing limited opportunities in this market due to Microsoft’s overwhelming dominance.

Instead the companies will continue to place its bets on software that works with server products aimed at businesses and developers. Moreover, Red Hat said that their Red Hat Global Desktop (RHGD) product for emerging markets has been delayed for an unspecified time, due to business issues. This will come as disappointing news to many open source supporters, especially with Linux now becoming a regular choice in emerging markets as the popularity of low-cost laptops continue to grow.