Dell now offering Studio XPS 13 with Ubuntu

Dell's been showing Ubuntu lots of love over the past few months, so it's no real shock to see the Linux-based operating system slide on over to Dell's hottest (literally and figuratively) 13-incher. The Studio XPS 13 can now be ordered with Ubuntu 8.10 or 7.04 right from the factory, though it seems you'll be forced to upgrade to Jaunty Jackalope once the rig hits your doorstep. Ah well, you won't find us kvetching over added options, so we'll just pencil on a smile and raise a glass to diversity at Round Rock.

[Thanks, Landon]

[Ramin @ May 24th 2009 8:58AM]

Ubuntu rocks my socks off!

[DR House @ May 24th 2009 10:53AM]

easy to please? Its funny that this shit OS even ask for money, they should pay us to use it
Windows>mac>no OS>linux

[Billy @ May 24th 2009 11:19AM]

@Dr House So sorry to hear that you suck at life so bad that you think windows is the superior option to Ubuntu.

[GoGoGadget @ May 24th 2009 11:37AM]

@Dr House,
looks like u got a housecall!

[alex kessaris @ May 24th 2009 11:41AM]

I gotta say that except for support from hardware vendors (would it kill you to release an open source driver with your usb card reader/lan card/piece of crap video card?).. and the lack of some windows compatibility features for people stuck interacting with people that use windows, Linux and especially Ubuntu is very ripe and extremely user-friendly, plus it just feels nice, and a lot of the time it actually works.

From what I've heard, it's rumored that Michael Dell himself uses Ubuntu on his own machine.

And to be honest, Dell always had good hardware. The only reason I never bought one of their machines was because it came with windows (really!)

So yea, sorry windows fan boys, pretty soon all your excuses will dry up and you'll jump on the bandwagon like everyone else.

[Wewtaco @ May 24th 2009 12:44PM]

I would definitely get this and dual-boot it with Windows 7.

[chispito @ May 24th 2009 1:28PM]

It makes no sense to me to buy a laptop with no commercial OS on it. You can get Windows for so much cheaper this way, and you're free to wipe it and put Ubuntu on it or set it up to dual boot.

What would you do if you decided you wanted to do some real video editing or, I don't know, actually play some games on your gaming laptop? Ubuntu is great for a lot of things, but it won't take you long before you could have used a copy of Windows.

[CraigJ @ May 24th 2009 1:29PM]

Well, Dr House has the arrogant part down pat. Unfortunately he's missing the part about actually being right about anything.

[chispito @ May 24th 2009 1:40PM]

My previous comment said, I can't fault Dell for offering the choice, and I guess there are a few people for whom this would be the ideal offering, though I'd personally recommend that people buy Windows--even Vista, which isn't as terrible as the people here would lead you to believe--and then download Dell's Ubuntu variant.

I suppose Dell could offer system preloaded for dual booting, but people would probably want to adjust the partitions exactly to their liking.

[Birch @ May 24th 2009 1:54PM]

Ubuntu may be a very solid, stable operating system but there's no denying that the breadth of software available for Windows and OSX are far greater and have better high end options (nothing on Linux can touch Avid, Final Cut Studio, Photoshop, After Effects, Maya, or yes, even Office).

Also, Ubuntu's reliance on the command line to perform many tasks makes it instantly inaccessible to 90% of the general public.

[Alphathon @ May 24th 2009 7:09PM]

I think Birch has it exactly. Linux is very powerful, and useful for many applications, but unless all you are doing is those specific things then a commecial OS is usually the way to go. The main problem with Linux is that it is open source. Don't get me wrong, open source is awesome, but it has one major problem for an OS - the people who are working on it care about their needs, so often ignore the features an everyday user would want. The command line reliance is one very good example. Open source software falls into the same category - while there are things like open office, most of the software available is either less powerful than commercial competitors, not well targeted towards it's main potential audience (e.g. a confusing UI) or simply not available.

[molecule-eye @ May 25th 2009 4:55AM]

If you never run Windows or have your own copy of Windows at home, then this is a perfect choice, especially since it could save hours of headache setting up Ubuntu from a clean install. (I've had problems with Jaunty and Intel video which tooks hours of googling to solve. It wasn't that obvious that I had to insert the command "echo "base=0xc0000000 size=0x10000000 type=write-combining" > /proc/mtrr" into one of my startup files, though anyone switching from Windows should have known that because of its sheer self-evidence.)

[C. Whitman @ May 26th 2009 12:14PM]

@Birch: Nothing on Linux can touch Maya? Not even ... I don't know ... Maya for Linux?

[Derry Quinn @ May 24th 2009 9:04AM]

Dell is probably one of my least favourite computer companies to buy from out there, but I seriously have to commend them on listening to their customers on this front and delivering time and time again.

I like the idea of Linux, but it's not for me (disclaimer, I'm a mac fanboi!!!111!!!oneone! LOLOLOL) but I think it is great that Dell has it there as an option for those who love it.

Well done Dell.

[Alex @ May 24th 2009 10:17AM]

I was about to give a plus for commending Dell and their efforts to be not as shitty as they used to be....but then you claimed to be an Apple fanboy so now I have to rank you down.

I'm so sorry, there is just nothing I can do.

[adrian @ May 24th 2009 11:43AM]

Dell should be creating their own distro for their own hardware.

[JohnTitor @ May 24th 2009 12:08PM]

Actually it may not be their own distro but Dell heavily customizes Ubuntu in their installs in a good way, not to mention gets everything working

[Derry Quinn @ May 24th 2009 1:20PM]

I was joking...

[FoxKenji @ May 24th 2009 4:26PM]

And I just down-ranked you Alex for being such a Dell lover.

[BrettA @ May 24th 2009 9:15AM]

I hope it works better than with Vista... I had my Studio XPS 13(40) up and running for about 4 days before a Windows update apparently corrupted the system and all Dell could suggest was to reformat the partition and start from scratch. Unfortunately the recovery partition didn't work as planned, so Dell had me download Vista and install from there. It took Abode and Microsoft a week to get CS4 Web Premium and Office running (they were driving after I tried), but it's still not working properly and Dell suggested to reformat the partition and start from scratch, this time using the Reinstallation DVD. After two failures, I figured a 3rd try didn't have much chance of success so I asked for my money back (still waiting for that to go ahead and have emailed asking them to kindly get moving). I was full time IT from '72, have bought Dell Optiplexes and Latitudes almost exclusively for a dozen years and haven't come even close to this level of problem since my IBM/AT (but in that situation, IBM Customer Service actually 'served' me in a reasonable way by providing a new working machine, unlike Dell now!)

[GoGoGadget @ May 24th 2009 9:17AM]

me too using Abode CS4 Web Premium!

[barry99705 @ May 24th 2009 9:43AM]

Anything works better than Vista....

[Alex @ May 24th 2009 10:18AM]

CS4 is a disappointment isn't it!

I moved back to CS3. I'm happy. :D

[Templarian @ May 24th 2009 11:04AM]

@Alex, same, Adobe's UI designer needs to be shot. I have an idea lets break every UI standard and see if anyone notices. /s

[barry99705 @ May 24th 2009 12:29PM]

@GoGoGadget

Why? I can't have my opinion about a crappy os that even MS is working to replace? I think you're the first Windows fanboy I've ever seen.

[Richard @ May 24th 2009 9:15AM]

Unless if there's a discount if you pick ubuntu instead of windows going with the ubuntu version is pretty stupid; you can get ubuntu for free anyway, and dualboot it with windows.

[Félix @ May 24th 2009 9:17AM]

There is one, the price of windows.

[Trevor @ May 24th 2009 9:17AM]

Hopefully this means that there shouldn't be any compatibility issues if you do.

[barry99705 @ May 24th 2009 9:44AM]

@Trevor

So far, I've not found anything incompatable with newer hardware and the latest Ubuntu.

[d2091876 @ May 24th 2009 10:31AM]

Since they only seem to offer Nvidia grafic in their new notebooks (wich has no oss drivers) I'm not bying Dell anymore.

[Félix @ May 24th 2009 9:15AM]

You do realize that they still offer windows on the very same product do you ?

Nice Step to offer Ubuntu on a real laptop, still lacking some support though.. (from Dell not from the Ubuntu community)

[Ethan @ May 24th 2009 9:20AM]

I'd pick ubuntu, but I'd also want a discount for the lack of windows. Dell have saved a bit, haven't they? And if there's no discount I may as well keep the windows license on the system and just install ubuntu as the primary OS.

[Daza @ May 24th 2009 10:18AM]

It's a little bit more complicated than that. Dell get money for bundling all that bloatware on your system when you buy a machine with Windows, and I'm assuming it isn't included in Ubuntu. Additionally there may be higher instances of technical support (as we've seen netebook manufacturers claim) which also costs money. Dell also don't have the opportunity to sell you addon software (anti-virus, etc) and this will reduce profits too. There's also the opportunity cost involved - relating to creating new system images, testing hardware configurations, etc.

Dell get OEM licenses extremely cheap - probably about $40-50 for Vista Home Basic and a little more for Vista Home Premium, so it's not like licensing makes up a huge part of the laptop anyway.

I use Linux quite regularly but I can't see why you'd ever choose Linux over Windows when it costs the same price, and I'm sure this is the point you're making too. Even if you're a die hard Ubuntu fan you might as well wipe Windows the second you get it and put on the latest version of Ubuntu, keeping the Windows OEM license for dual booting or other purposes.

[Mike @ May 24th 2009 10:23AM]

That was the first thing I looked for, was there a price difference. NO! With Vista Home or Ubuntu, they are the same price for the same configuration. The only difference is that the Vista version has an N wifi card and the Ubuntu has an A/G card. Honestly, since they are both special "half-height" cards and pretty much made especially for Dell, they probably cost the same. Perhaps Ubuntu isn't get compatible with that particular N card?

So basically the laptops cost the same to make, but the Ubuntu version saves on the windows Licencing fees (which are probably pretty slim for Dell), and these saving are not passed on. You may as well get the Vista version if you have any interest in using Windows on there. (Assuming the N card isn't a problem). Better wifi card and basically free Vista since you can download and install Ubuntu for free.

I do understand why Dell would be hesitant to sell the Ubuntu version cheaper than the Windows version. I imagine that there would be hundreds, if not thousands of people that would buy the "cheaper" version because it is cheaper, and then return it because it's not windows and they don't knwo how to use it, and it won't run their programs.

As a Linux user myself, I know that Ubuntu is really easy to use. If you've never used Windows before, it's just as easy to learn from the start. But I know people that can't even install a program from a cd they bought if autorun is disabled. I blame the average penny-pinching consumer for the Linux PC not being cheaper. Remember the ridiculous return rates of that "Lindows" PC at Wal-Mart?

[alex kessaris @ May 24th 2009 11:58AM]

You are so right. Vista is the definition of bloatware. It sucks the life out of any PC, and frankly, having it on their machines makes dell look like their machines are utter crap.

I have an inspiron 530 with 4 gigs of Ram (!) and it runs slower exactly the same as my P3 did when XP first came out. That's not progress, that's bollocks.

If I had the same machine running ubuntu, it would be fast as hell and it would look cool doing it too.

[Edrei @ May 24th 2009 9:40AM]

Wait...correct me if I'm wrong but, you have to pay Dell to install Ubuntu (which is free) for you?

As much as I applaud the Linux route, how is paying for something that's means to be free a good thing?

What am I missing here?

[barry99705 @ May 24th 2009 9:45AM]

I've been thinking the same thing about Red Hat.

[Zachary Waldowski @ May 24th 2009 10:15AM]

I think any cost incurred for installing Ubuntu for you is that they (legally) license codecs for restricted formats. You can play DVD's out of the box on Dellbuntus.

[chris @ May 24th 2009 10:36AM]

Yes, but you can also legally, and just as easily, install a codec pack in Ubuntu.
I'm running a triple boot on my m1530 laptop. Ubuntu, Vista, and OSx86. Heh.
Useless information, though.

Dell shouldn't be charging an insane amount to install a free and open source product.
If someone wants a "Dellbuntu", then they should just get the cheapest OS option that's offered and install it themselves.

Of course...they might be offering upgraded or customized versions of Ubuntu. I know for me, with my m1530, you needed to modify some system files to get the touchpad working. As easy as it seems, it would be confusing for beginners.

Desktops ARE different, though. All of that hardware would be fully supported...so, that kind of thwarts my last comment. Oh well.
Dell is just scamming people.

[Andir3.0 @ May 24th 2009 1:20PM]

I'm pretty sure it's illegal to install an MP3 codec in the US (and other countries) without first paying the license fee, among other codecs.

Yes, most Linux distros are free, but you are paying for the licenses for these codecs, and you are paying for support from Dell, and providing a small amount of money to the people who brought you that free OS. Consider it a (in?)voluntary donation to buy an Ubuntu equipped laptop instead of Windows. Depending on your point of view, I don't see why a nominal fee for installing, configuring and supporting an OS is a bad thing.

Most people that just use laptops to surf the web, write the occasional document and play solitaire, sudoku, or any of the free games included don't need any more than Ubuntu with Open Office and frankly, once you get it installed and keep it updated, you never need to worry about it ever again. It just works.

[Will @ May 24th 2009 3:56PM]

You're paying for codecs and the work they did customizing Ubuntu and ensuring it is compatible with the hardware. :P

Basically the stuff everyone hates doing when you install Ubuntu.

[Chad @ May 24th 2009 9:42AM]

Can anyone explain why a machine from Dell with Ubuntu is $217 more than an identical machine with Vista & Norton?

[AKA_Ben @ May 24th 2009 10:28AM]

Perhaps the idea behind the price hike is that by virtue of installing Ubunut you avoid all of Dell's bloatware/partnership software installations (Norton, etc)?

[ttlj @ May 26th 2009 6:40PM]

It seems odd that they'd offer 7.04; feisty has been officially unsupported by canonical for the last 6 months. My guess is that it's a typo and they mean 8.04: the current LTS release.

[motang @ May 24th 2009 9:48AM]

This is very cool, looks like Dell is really warming up to Ubuntu. My next laptop purchase I might considering getting a Dell cause of this (of Dell pre-installed with Ubuntu).

[bubblemayhem @ May 24th 2009 10:46AM]

If you can run ubuntu, you know how to install it yourself.

[christopclos @ May 24th 2009 9:53AM]

They really should know better than to use the "L Word" it scares people off

Its great that they're selling computers with ubuntu, but don't say Linux!!!

[ioannisnousias @ May 24th 2009 10:08AM]

you must be thinking of another word that starts with 'V' ;)

[GoGoGadget @ May 24th 2009 11:22AM]

...or F.

[lazyboy @ May 24th 2009 9:58AM]

it's not at a discount at all.
check the website, the windows and linux machines are identical in price and the only difference in hardware is the windows machine comes with a wireless n card whereas the linux machine only has a wireless g card.... so, same price for less specs? Price Fail.
http://www.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/laptop-studio-xps-13?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs&~ck=mn