AT&T is evaluating different operating systems, including Mac OS X and Linux, as alternatives to Microsoft Windows for internal use. “The company’s chief information officer, Hossein Eslambolchi, has set up a team in AT&T’s research labs to assess the appropriateness of desktop operating systems for the company,” reports CNET News.com. “The company currently uses Windows on its desktop PCs, which number in the tens of thousands. The engineers are testing and measuring how Windows, Linux and Mac OS X stack up on security, reliability and total cost of ownership, Dickman said. AT&T expects to make a decision on the merits of the desktop operating systems by the end of next year or early 2006.”