Seagate has decided to lend an open source hand to Whitebox PC makers by distributing the LindowsOS on one of its hard drives at no cost.

U.S. computer makers of all shapes and sizes can purchases the 40GB Barracuda 7200.7 hard drives pre-loaded with LindowsHD. Seagate will sell the hard drives with our without the Linux OS at the same cost and estimates that Whitebox manufacturers can save about $100 per computer by picking the pre-loaded option. At a minimum, the program will run through December.

Seagate is pitching the drives as a cost and time saver for PC makers. The Barracuda kit can simply be plugged into any Intel-compatible PC, as a hardware auto-detection tool takes over and configures the system for "optimal performance."

The software used by Seagate is the English-language version of Lindows 4.0.

Seagate recommends that manufacturers interested in the deal contact distributors Bell Microproducts or Synnex Information Technologies. ®