Linux is an open source, operating system (other operating systems include Apple's OS X and Microsoft's Windows). In the University it is used by staff and students, primarily in Science departments and is available to everyone (although it may not be suitable for some staff members working with specific business applications).

There is a managed desktop service available in some computer classrooms which provides electronic mail through Outlook Web Access (OWA) with the (IceWeasel) Firefox or Chromim web browser, or IMAP with the Thunderbird (Icedove) email client or the command line based Pine mail program.

You can also access the Linux service remotely by logging into the time-sharing service Mira (a collection of servers each with four 16-core Intel Xeon Processors).

If you want to try installing Linux on your own PC it's free; you might like to try Ubuntu. http://www.ubuntu.com/ or for more advanced users Debian http://www.debian.org

For information on accessing Mira, click on the linke below.

To find out more about the associated services and features, please select from the following:

• The Mate Desktop
• Linux Timeshare Service (Mira)