Novell Data Systems was founded 1979 and started as a computer manufacturer and maker of disk operating systems. In 1983 NDSI was reincorperated as Novell Inc. and Raymond J. Noorda became president and CEO. This was the beginning of a near total domination of the LAN market. In the early '90s Novell had 70% of the market but slowly lost most of it when MicrosoftWindows built in network capabilities matured.

Novell bought the AT&T subsidary UNIX System Laboratories in 1992 wich led to the settlement of the UCL vs BSDi+UC lawsuit.

It is famous for its NetWare network OperatingSystem, which is moving to Linux. They also have a MailServer product called GroupWise which will have a Linux client in the form of Evolution after their 2003 purchase of Ximian.

Novell now own SUSE as well.

For local notes on Novell products, see :CategoryNovell