Dell set to offer pre-loaded Ubuntu "within weeks"

Given Michael Dell's admitted fondness for Ubuntu (Feisty Fawn, specifically) and Dell's previous announcement that it was heeding the call of geeks everywhere to offer Linux pre-loaded on its consumer systems, it shouldn't come as too much of a surprise that Ubuntu would be the company's distro of choice, but it's still nice to hear the word coming straight from the source. The company's also getting a bit more specific on when we'll finally start to see Ubuntu-based systems rolling out the door, saying that it'll begin to offer Ubuntu 7.04 as an option on "select Dell consumer models" (both desktops and laptops) in the coming weeks. Now, if only they'd be as receptive to public feedback on their choices of hardware.

[Via CRN]

[ark_v2 @ May 2nd 2007 12:43AM]

Only if it succeeds, and if it does it will take a while until linux is taken by then as a mainstream business.

[Stephan @ May 1st 2007 12:33PM]

Ok is it just me or is something going crazy with the comments?

As for the Dell preinstalling Ubuntu SWEET! I just converted my desktops from MCE to Ubuntu (with MythTV for my HTPC needs), and I am so happy! Now if only they can actually charge less then those Vista machines that would be great.

As for hardware support, well that is a dream for another day.

[syadasti @ May 1st 2007 1:40PM]

>>>As for hardware support, well that is a dream for another day.

You just have to buy the right model then.

Dell's corporate line has some of the best support in the business - far better than Apple. Optiplex desktop and Latitude notebooks come with 3 years on-site NBD support and US based phone support. None of this 90 days, 1 year crap and you don't have to visit a retail store when your battery expands or you case cracks/discolors (well for Dell, it would only be the batteries, heh!)

Dell Outlet is the best way go - full warranty and super cheap.

[Dustin Frazier @ May 1st 2007 2:12PM]

I would switch to Ubuntu but I use a tablet pc as one computer and game on another. From what I've seen Ubuntu is shite for both.

[Giltronic @ May 1st 2007 12:57PM]

this could be make or break of linux.
if people actually are motivated enough to try another os and like ubuntu, linux market share will increase rapidly. however, if people are aprehensive about trying it and or don't like ubuntu it will be many steps in the wrong direction.

i wonder what the pricing will be on linux machines compared to windows?

[3rdsun @ May 1st 2007 1:03PM]

This is good news indeed. Ubuntu is one of the easier Linux distros. Feels like windows so its easy to get used to. Lets hope Microsoft dont hold Dell to ransom.

[cmonkey @ May 1st 2007 1:20PM]

Break linux? No. If it doesn't sell, Dell will just phase it out and it'll be another few years until Linux goes mainstream. However, I would be surprised if this plan didn't succeed. Dell would be the first major consumer computer manufacturer to offer an alternative to Windows. Given the current discontent with Vista, consumers will no doubt be looking for something better, if not merely something else. I'm not suggesting that every average joe is going to go out and buy an Ubuntu box, but eventually word will spread that Ubuntu is at least as easy to use as Windows and is far more versatile.

As far as pricing goes, I doubt it'll be more than $50-100 cheaper than an equivalent Windows box, considering how much money Dell gets from the crapware they preload on Windows boxen.

[steve @ May 1st 2007 1:09PM]

great, now maby creative will be forced to push those linux x-fi drivers out the door. This should also have a vast effect on third party support for linux. Go Ubuntu!

[Craig @ May 1st 2007 1:11PM]

Will it be cheaper then? No paying M$ for the OEM licence?

[LongshotX @ May 1st 2007 1:42PM]

Discontent? With Vista? I beg to differ, I enjoy Vista. It isn't without its flaws but it has a stellar graphical interface, its easy to use, and there are lot of compatible games and other programs. I don't understand why you Linux fanboys give Microsoft so much flak. If it was so bad I'm sure the masses would be taking up arms, with pitchforks and torches calling for "down with Windows"! Well I guess the revolution hasn't started yet...not that anyone, especially the average consumer, really cares.

[Yayaja @ May 1st 2007 1:29PM]

This is really cool. Does anyone know exactly what the licensing fee is for windows? How much of what you pay for when you buy a computer goes straight to microsoft?

[steve @ May 1st 2007 1:38PM]

it's about 100 bucks, minus a volume discount. Go check out the OEM versions of vista on newegg.com

[Yayaja @ May 2nd 2007 12:19AM]

Hey cool thanks!

[steve @ May 1st 2007 1:49PM]

Wow, that was uneducated. It's not really a "down with Windows" thing, it's more of a "fix your broken OS" thing, not to mention some more than shady business practices. Why does everyone use it? because most people don't think they have a choice. And it's semi-informed people like yourself making that situation worse. Let me ask you this, is microsoft paying you to make these comments?

[Gyp Joe @ May 2nd 2007 5:14PM]

Finally!

Now, where the heck is my Windoze CD...

[EddieW @ May 1st 2007 1:57PM]

Yeah, okay. Vista is marginally better than XP under the hood (I've actually been able to go three whole days without rebooting, unlike the daily reboots required with XP), but from what I understand, Linux can go for weeks without a reboot. Vista is miles above XP interface-wise with Aero Glass and the Widgets (or is it Gadgets?) are interesting. I wanted to use RedHat before, but couldn't get pen drivers for my IBM (I mean Lenovo) X60 Tablet, so hopefully Ubuntu will have them so I can see what this Linux fuss is all about!

[steve @ May 1st 2007 2:03PM]

BTW, if it is "a flashy interface" you're after, check out beryl. Google it, search youtube, whatever. You might just crap yourself

[James Smith @ May 1st 2007 2:34PM]

My Ubuntu PC has been running for about 10 days now.

[Kevin Archibald @ May 1st 2007 1:59PM]

Is the elephant in the room that people will just order the linux one $100 cheaper and then stick a pirate copy of windows on it?

[ChocoLatte @ May 1st 2007 2:08PM]

The market is probably more skewed to developers. I don't think any adult is going to base their OS decision on saving $100.

[steve @ May 1st 2007 2:01PM]

yea, now I'm on a soapbox now, and I feel that this argument is at the heart of this story, so it's still revelent.

People are frustrated with Vista because the only thing they really improved on is a flashey interface. That's it. More security you say? That's what the fricken service packs are for. Honestly, there whole "Wow" advertizing did leave me saying wow. "Wow, look at all the system resources this thing is sucking up" Come on! almost 500 megs of memory just to run the OS. What the heck am I suposed to run my programs on.

The idea here is that windows is diverging into something that people really don't want. It's the answer to the question that nobody asked. That's why Dell switched back to XP, that's why there is such a call to Linux. It's about giving people what they really want, not what Microsoft says we need. It's about choice. It's about free, open software. It's about time.

[Echo @ May 1st 2007 3:38PM]

You guys are retarded... you have 1 gig+ of memory and you don't want your OS to utilize it? Vista uses as much ram as possible, but if your applications need it then it'll scale its use back.

[Andrew Fong @ May 1st 2007 2:13PM]

I'm using Ubuntu right now and I love it (vastly more stable than Vista on my system), but I don't feel that this is really going to change anything. People looking for an alternative to Windows have either been aware of Ubuntu for a while or are using OS X. And unless Dell makes a lot of changes to the distro, Feisty Fawn is still less user friendly than Windows.

Quick example: There's no obvious way to check out how much space you've used up on a partition. What's worse, if you use up all of the space, X can stop functioning and the GUI will fail to load up.

Until you can run Ubuntu without touching the terminal, it's still more complicated to the "average user" than Windows. Dell is simply looking to cash in on technically proficient users, not the mass market that is its bread and butter.

[James Smith @ May 1st 2007 2:41PM]

You can use Gparted or when you open up Nautilus (the file browser), in the lower left-hand corner it tells you how much space is left in the drive you are viewing.

[tiuk @ May 1st 2007 2:26PM]

Sooo, does this mean broadcom drivers for linux?

[ark_v2 @ May 1st 2007 3:06PM]

without reboot, yeah, mine has been running for about 7 or 8, and there are no memory leaks, working as if it was just turned on :)

[James Smith @ May 1st 2007 3:15PM]

Yea me too, the only time I reboot is for the occasional Kernel update or when I upgrade to a new version of Ubuntu (which come out every 6 months). The vast majority of updates don't require you to reboot or even log out for that matter, just kernel updates require a reboot. As far as comments saying Vista uses up 500MB of memory just to run, well I currently have two users logged in (including myself), one just running GAIM. I'm running Firefox 2.0, Gossip, CheckGmail, Mplayer and Azureus, all the while using a little less than 500MB of system memory! Now that deserves a wow.

[jonno @ May 2nd 2007 4:40AM]

try using something smaller than Azureus. ktorrent is good (nothing is as good as utor).

I found Azureus quite bloated. Possibly because java

[James Smith @ May 2nd 2007 6:02AM]

Yea Azureus is bloated but I like it because it has a ton of features.

[Russell @ May 1st 2007 2:36PM]

My estimate is at best it will be $25 cheaper than vista home basic, but with OO and stuff of course.

I am a dell channel sales partner and I know the cost on a lot of components. A big part of the price difference between the Optiplex low end and it's comparable dimension specced exactly the same with promos taken out is the lack of crapware countering the price of the system.

I'd like to see dell offer a "add $25" to get a clean install like the Optiplex/Precision/Latitude so friends/family could get a good dimension promo +$25 and not have to reinstall.

Also, this isn't going to sell well. Maybe 2-4% of Dell's home sales only. The support costs and design costs will outweigh what dell makes on it if they charge less than vista...

My bet is on making it the same price as Vista Basic and marketing it as coming with "all the productivity software you need" built in. Most people still care more about learning and using office than anything else so will still pick vista. Not to mention application compatibility and being afraid of something different.

[Russell @ May 1st 2007 2:38PM]

The other thing for the driver questions is it's quite likely there will be a Dell Ubuntu 32&64 bit x86 binary package of drivers that they support. Using other drivers will probably result in Dell offering support in how to completely wipe and reload the system with their drivers. :)

So probably not the kind of 'broadcom drivers' that everyone wants.

[ark_v2 @ May 1st 2007 2:56PM]

I really don't think this is the way to go. IMO dell should give a free ubuntu disk on the box, or even dual-boot; that way people won't have to buy a windows copy if they want to use the apps they are used to or if give up trying to learn. I use ubuntu and it's far better than windows, and believe me, since I started using linux about two years ago, when I use windows (even XP) I feel really happy about not having to use that crap everyday. If people have a dual-boot machine they'll come back to ubuntu if they go to XP for anything. Besides, the cost difference won't be that great when preinstalling XP (Vista is another story).

[Aldo Altamirano @ May 1st 2007 3:21PM]

One of the major problems that I see to trying to use Linux is the software. A lot of people already spent hundreds on soft like Microsoft Office, and even if you have alternatives as Open Office, still is hard to get used to for people how has been using Microsoft Office for years. I believe most of the people who read Engadet are not going to have any problem with this kind of issues, but in cases like my wife (preschool teacher) she only uses the computer for email and Word writing stuff for school. I installed Open Office in our computer and it was very confusing for her, so she keeps using Microsoft Office. This is just and example but you have others, in my case, for my job I need to use graphic software as Photoshop, Quark or Illustrator. In these cases you don't have a choice, or Mac, or Windows, and I know there is some tools as "Wine" that allow you to use Windows soft under Linux, but in some cases it doesn't work 100% fine and it's a little complicated to install.
I hope some day we could see Linux everywhere, but for now, until soft companies start to do soft for Linux, this is not going to happen.

[Antic @ May 1st 2007 3:27PM]

A system designed around Ubuntu could be significantly cheaper than a Vista machine.... not only is the Linux OS free, it can also perform well with less RAM and a lower-end processor.

[Ethan Duffy @ May 1st 2007 3:32PM]

Hope this happens in Europe, and it best cost less than Ubuntu.

[chris @ May 1st 2007 3:33PM]

I would be more interested if dell sold a system that dual booted Vista and Ubuntu on a high end computer. All my gaming could be centered on vista and everything else on Ubuntu. That type of computer would make a weird addition to having my macbook.

[McGinley @ May 1st 2007 4:21PM]

I cant get drivers for my wifi card,so no linux for me yet unfortunately...

[Daniel Prokosch @ May 1st 2007 5:10PM]

Ok I have a Dell 9300 could some one please give me reason for setting up the computer as a duel boot computer with Ubuntu. What are the advantages of using this operating system over Windows XP.

I also have an old Toshiba Satellite 2805-s402 notebook running Windows ME would this be something to load Ubuntu on.

I am high School business teacher in an intercity school district. I have shown my students open office and I have one student already running Ubuntu on his computer at home.

I am would like to try this operating system out. (I have played with the Live CD's) I just wonder why would someone want to do this.

Also if anyone could suggest guides on helping with this I would appreciate it.

[Daniel Prokosch @ May 1st 2007 5:11PM]

Ok I have a Dell 9300 could some one please give me reason for setting up the computer as a duel boot computer with Ubuntu. What are the advantages of using this operating system over Windows XP.

I also have an old Toshiba Satellite 2805-s402 notebook running Windows ME would this be something to load Ubuntu on.

I am high School business teacher in an intercity school district. I have shown my students open office and I have one student already running Ubuntu on his computer at home.

I am would like to try this operating system out. (I have played with the Live CD's) I just wonder why would someone want to do this.

Also if anyone could suggest guides on helping with this I would appreciate it.

[jono @ May 2nd 2007 4:48AM]

i dual boot. i have to

I use Ubuntu for most of my day to day needs mainly because it's stable but i still need xp for games and some engineering software that isn't on linux.
Also, although apparently it's supported, my Epson 4180 scanner refuses to work in Ubuntu so i have to use xp for that. My Nikon Coolscan V ED worked fine though. Weird.

[Andir3.0 @ May 1st 2007 7:43PM]

The Ubuntu disc is a Live CD. You can install it after you boot into Ubuntu on the CD.

Why would you want to install it? As a teacher, with your kids using it, it might be a good way to connect? Get the kid involved with some of your questions and let them see you have an interest in learning still? Maybe install it just to see that else there is. You'd be surprised how well it works.

The best place for support is the Ubuntu forums. The OS has direct links in the menus to some help and support as well. Pretty much every single problem you might have already has an answer and the community is very supportive.

But I still go with the student apathy angle. Let the kids know your interested in learning something new. Show them your interest in looking outside the "normal" and experimenting with something. I'd say to get them involved, but I'm sure the resources are not available where your at. If they are, a lot has changed since I was last involved with a school.

[frank grimes @ May 1st 2007 11:40PM]

While this is awesome news, but unfortunately this sort of means that Dell will have yet more territory to defend against OSX. I hope the best for them.

To the novice, a basic linux/OSX desktop looks almost identical, and the OSX platform includes more mature apps such as itunes vs banshee/amorok or F-spot vs iphoto, iweb vs nvu in the eyes of novices. This is not to say that their products are "better," but that they are more mature.

Ubuntu's wireless needs work. Yes, it's not their fault. If Dell gets developers cranking on the unified wireless initiative that will rock. If they get developers cranking faster on Power management, that will really rock.

That's really about it.

Ubuntu is ready and although it has some notably severe hindrances for the time being, hopefully the Dell juggernaut will fix it....

Oh, and including the Novell SLED menu would be cool...to mix things up a bit with MS.

[balagan @ May 2nd 2007 3:13AM]

I see several possibilities.

1. Dell support gets overwhelmed by non-linux users calling constantly because they don't know how to use the OS. Dell could lose much $$$ on this.

2. Lots of retail copies of MS Vista will be purchased after people realise that converting over is not an easy task for the average joe who doesn't tinker or who doesn't spend more time on his PC than with his or her family. We are a people (At least in the US) of the easiest and simple solution sells.

3. Create a GUI for the linux OS which mirrors the Windows XP GUI....and they have a chance!!!!!!!!!

[ThorzHamer @ May 2nd 2007 11:11PM]

ok ok ok I keep hearing all these people say something to this effect: " XP/Vista requires me to reboot constantly! "

What the hell kind of jacked up system are you running these Operating systems on?? I had XP installed on one of my older machines and it gave me ZERO problems really, and I custom Built a system to install Vista on and its running great....24/7 have rebooted this machine maybe 3 times in the few months ive had it installed.... Come on people... read the Recommended system requirements NOT the bottom of the line system requirements!

[ILikeFood @ May 13th 2007 1:17AM]

Windows does give a ton of problems that require reboots even on good systems. I'm running with an Athlon64 3700+, GeForce 7900GT, 1GB RAM, Audigy2 zs, and MSI K8N-SLI mobo just to give a few of the specs. Only a year old and Windows XP still gives a ton of problems (blue screens at least once a month, installation errors about 75% of the time, recognizes my flash drive but doesn't assign it a drive letter no matter what drivers I use, etc.). In general XP seems fairly stable but it does have some meajor problems. Maybe you're just lucky with your computer.

Anyway, it sounds like ubuntu will have more users pretty soon. And once it gets more users, more people will 1. tell their friends about how great it is and 2. demand drivers, software, support, etc for it. Somebody will end up providing all these things that people will demand, making ubuntu even better. Since it will be made better, more people will get it, and the cycle continues. So as long as a significant number of people get ubuntu on their new computers (say 3%-7% for starters) its popularity will grow and it'll be another big contender along with Windows and OSX.

The thing I'm really hoping for is for game developers to start offering their games with compatibility on all operating systems. It wouldn't surprise me to see it happen considering how many people are buying Macs these days. It wouldnt even be that hard really, all they need to do is compile their program for all 3 OS's. Then the customer just needs to make sure to buy the right copy for their OS. It looks like an end to Microsoft's reign of terror is finally in sight.