Novell Inc.

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Novell Inc. A US-based developer and supplier of network software. Originally a producer of small desktop computers, in the 1980s the company acquired a dominating position in the local area network field, through its Netware product. In the 1990s it made a series of unwise acquisitions that it was subsequently forced to dispose of. It was slow to spot the decline in the market for systems based on proprietary standards. In recent years, however, it has concentrated on Web services, with tools to support the use of J2EE and XML. It also has a growing stake in the market for Linux products.