Be Inc. president Jean Louis Gasse may throw down the gauntlet before PC manufacturers, daring them to pre-load his Be operating system or the free Unix derivative Linux.

In an attempt to prove that Microsoft Corp. has created a "climate of fear" among PC makers, Gasse may challenge PC makers to eschew Windows and pre-load his Be OS or the Linux OS on their PCs for free.

The full story from PC Week online appears on ZDNN .