A spokeswoman for Linux distributor Red Hat on Friday confirmed a report that the company will delay the release of a new open-source desktop operating system in order to resolve some technical issues.

"It's going to be delayed a month," said the spokeswoman.

News agency Reuters on Friday reported that Red Hat would push back until September the launch of its Global Desktop Linux product. The software was originally slated to launch this month.

Red Hat is positioning Global Desktop Linux as a low-cost alternative to Microsoft's Windows Vista operating system, which is encountering some market resistance because of price and concerns about application compatibility.

Red Hat is working with chipmaker Intel on the project.

In an e-mail to Reuters, Global Desktop Linux product manager Gerry Riveros said the software is being delayed so engineers can increase the number of video formats the OS can support. Red Hat's spokeswoman told InformationWeek that the story is correct.

Red Hat first disclosed plans to launch Global Desktop Linux in May. Beyond competing with Windows, the software will also go head to head with desktop offerings from Linux distributors Novell and Ubuntu.

Red Hat has yet to disclose pricing details for the operating system.