Red Hat Inc. has unveiled the latest version of its Linux operating system as the open-source software company continues to combat Microsoft’s market-dominating Windows platform.

Developers for the Raleigh-based company touted Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 as more flexible and more manageable than its prior versions, and said they worked for two years on the product.

“Our customers are an integral part of the development process,” said Paul Cormier, Red Hat’s executive vice president for engineering, echoing the open-source tenet that users be allowed to view and edit the software’s code.

Resoundingly, Cormier said, customers wanted less complexity.

The new operating system supports “virtualization,” which Red Hat said will help companies consolidate their technology workload onto one server - saving energy, space and money.