Novell Promotes Ronald W. Hovsepian to President and Chief Operating Officer


WALTHAM, Mass. -- Nov. 1, 2005 -- Novell, Inc. (NASD: NOVL) today
announced that on Oct. 31, 2005, its board of directors promoted Ron
Hovsepian, executive vice president and president, global field
operations, to president and chief operating officer of Novell. This
promotion will further focus Novell's efforts on meeting the needs of
customers on a global basis. Mr. Hovsepian will have direct worldwide
responsibility for product development, marketing, and field operations,
which includes sales, consulting and technical services.

Mr. Hovsepian, 44, joined Novell in June 2003 as president of North
America, and has led the transformation of global field operations since
May 2005. Previously, Mr. Hovsepian held management and executive
positions at IBM Corporation over a 17 year period, including worldwide
general manager of IBM's distribution industries, managing global
hardware and software development, sales, marketing and services. Mr.
Hovsepian also served as a managing director of Internet Capital Group,
a venture capital firm.

"Ron's results across our North American field organization are proof
that he is a strong leader for Novell," said Jack Messman, chairman and
CEO of Novell. "Now that the transformation of our field organization is
well underway, it is time for Ron to extend his leadership capabilities
across the entire organization. I am confident that, as president and
COO, Ron will deliver strong results for our customers, employees and
shareholders."

"Since joining Novell, I've remained convinced that we have a
tremendous opportunity to provide leadership in the market as
organizations around the globe embrace open standards and open source as
a way to improve their operating results," said Hovsepian. "I'm grateful
for the strong support we continue to receive from customers and
partners and I am confident that our employees will deliver value to our
shareholders."

About Novell
Novell, Inc. (Nasdaq: NOVL) delivers software for the open enterprise.
With more than 50,000 customers in 43 countries, Novell helps customers
manage, simplify, secure and integrate their technology environments by
leveraging best-of-breed, open standards-based software. With over 20
years of experience, Novell's 6,000 employees, 5,000 partners and
support centers around the world help customers gain control over their
IT operating environment while reducing cost. More information about
Novell can be found at www.novell.com.

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Press Contact:
Bruce Lowry
Novell
(415) 383-8408
blowry@novell.com

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