US retail giant Wal-Mart has announced that is to offer PCs built around the controversial Lindows operating system.

Lindows, the brainchild of Michael Robertson, the founder of MP3.com, is an operating system which allows users to run both Microsoft Windows and the open source Linux software on the same PC.

Earlier this year, Lindows survived a legal challenge from Microsoft which claimed that Lindows had strategically named itself to confuse customers and cash in on the Windows brand.

The advertising slogan from Wal-Mart, a store which has historically looked to move away from traditional PC vendors, reads:

"These computers do not ship with Microsoft Windows. They ship with an exciting new Unix-based operating system named Lindows.

"This exciting new operating system delivers the stability of Unix with the ease of Windows and the ability to run most Microsoft programs.

"These computer systems are a perfect low cost alternative to computers pre-loaded with Microsoft Windows."

Wal-Mart is offering eight Microtel PC models costing between $299 and $599, including basic software packages.