Canonical, the quiet backer behind Ubuntu, hopes to gain higher market presence with the use of a cloud Linux desktop suite designed for netbooks and other low-end PCs.  The IBM Client for Smart Work originally launched in South Africa – it is designed for emerging markets -- but is seeing higher demand in North America and Europe.

The software package for U.S. users includes Lotus Symphony, which includes word processing, Lotus Notes, LotusLive.com collaboration tools, and LotusLive iNotes.

It's an interesting working agreement since the OS will give users the benefit of cloud computing, but also has a physical operating system environment for users to interact with.

The IBM-Canonical partnership comes before the much-anticipated launch of Microsoft Windows 7, which Microsoft hopes will erase the bad memory of its Windows Vista OS.

Research firm Chadwick Martin Bailey recently conducted a survey in which 51% of large companies asked said they'd standardize Windows 7 installations on desktops and notebooks, with 38% of those surveyed saying netbooks will have Windows 7 in the next couple of years.

"Our data shows a remarkably high number of organizations planning to standardize on the new Windows 7 operating system in the near-term," Chadwick Martin Bailey VP Chris Neal told USA Today.  "Those who are holding back for the time being are more commonly staying with XP, rather than Vista.”