Dell now offering Studio XPS 13 with Ubuntu
By Darren Murph 
posted May 24th 2009 8:53AM
posted May 24th 2009 8:53AM
[Thanks, Landon]
posted May 24th 2009 8:53AM
Canonical Ubuntu 12.04
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The only problem is that the XPS 13 with the same hardware configuration costs the same 1,099$ with Vista Home.
Since they only seem to offer Nvidia grafic in their new notebooks (wich has no oss drivers) I'm not bying Dell anymore.
Linux most certainly does have OSS nvidia drivers. In fact they're better than the ATI drivers and these days with the current issues with Intel, better then them as well.
They offer Ati GPUs in some models.
That's interesting. I only buy Linux machines WITH NVidia graphics since the open source graphic drivers wear very large fail pants while also eating NVidia's VDPAU dust.
But does it come with hybrid-SLI support finally?
It's funny that Dell's 1-year support option is more expensive than Windows.
Does Dell want to say " Hey, my OS support is X times better than MS. "
My only problem with this is that they're offering Ubuntu 7.04. That went out of support last October. Why provide an OS that's going to give you errors on first boot when trying to update? I called Dell and their answer was "We offer 7.04 because that's what we have in stock". Sorry, but you also have 8.04 in stock because that's what's on your Dell mini's. They really should just stick with the LTS versions for the 3 year support and stability.
My guess is it's a typo and they meant 8.04.
7.04? 7.04 went end of life six months ago:http://www.ubuntu.com/news/ubuntu-7.04-end-of-life
EPIC FAIL!
I suspect this is a 'special child moment' on the part of Engadget, not Dell. It is more than likely 8.04 LTS, the same version that comes on the Minis.
@GoGoGadget
Your Windows OS seems to have developed a problem. All of your letters are capitalized. At least my Ubuntu machine lets me have both captial and lowercase.
One should by the Windows version as specs r better an u r getting a licence and u should install the latest version of Ubuntu or any other disort yourself.
P.S. I'm a Linux User (Fedora 10+Ubuntu)
@Billy,
No, I'm just expressing my thought.
It sucks to see Dell putting Shitubuntu onto their machines while they charge the same as the one preinstalled with a more superior OS called Windows. And it's more unbelievable to see consumers like u r actually supporting Dell for this.
Dell...Dell...Dell...
I triple-boot Ubuntu 9.04, XP, and (ugh) Vista. I've only had to call customer support for vista, Ubuntu and XP have worked fine for me. I even have a usb wifi dongle that only works on Ubuntu because I can't find drivers for Windows
"Ah well, you won't find us kvetching over added options"
Really? So what was all that bitching and moaning about the different versions of Windows all about?
Hypocrites.
More options, as in Windows OR Linus = good.
More options, as in picking from 6 versions of Windows = bad.
get it?
Microsoft had it right with XP; Home, and Pro. Apple and Ubuntu do it better - 1 version
Yeah I get it alright. They're not happy unless they whingeing about Microsoft. Either that or they're too thick to choose from a few versions of Windows with different features.
@CraigJ One version? There's Kubuntu, Xubuntu, Edubuntu, Gobuntu...
While many think that Vista and Ubuntu are being offered at the same price, it's not actually true.
Ubuntu is functionally comparable only to Vista Ultimate, which you must add another $150 for. To claim that "Home Premium" is somehow on the same level as a real operating system is frankly a joke, even if it isn't as bad a joke as Home Basic was for even claiming to be a modern operating system at all. So there is a savings for getting Ubuntu.
The real unfortunate option is that they do not have the 802.11n card as an option for the Ubuntu configuration. Bummer, but they aren't difficult to buy if you know where to look, just have to remember that the Studio XPS 13 needs a half-sized card and not a full-sized one.
Home Premium is more operating system than most people will ever need. Of course a pretentious Ubuntu fanboy wouldn't care...
Exactly how is Ubuntu WORTH MORE than *any version* of Vista when Ubuntu is FREE? You can get BOTH Vista and Ubuntu for the same price you can get JUST Ubuntu. NO SAVINGS, PERIOD.
@GoGoGadget; They're giving the customer choice. It's unfathomable that you would view that as a bad thing.
The worst part of Ubuntu (or any Linux distro) is getting all the required drivers to work with your specific hardware (I am yet to get a WiFi card working correctly). Dell cutting out that step removes a lot of headaches for people who are just going to erase Windows when they get the computer.
lame. this linux trend is just getting out of hand now *rolls eyes*
Why are they still using Intrepid (8.10)? They always offer the latest Windows OS as soon as it's released. Jaunty (9.04) has been out for about a month now. Linux gets no respect.
I agree. I was somewhat interested in this (considering it is Ubuntu which comes with all of the drivers and everything working out of the box), until I saw that they were not using 9.04. After having EXT4 support, I do not think I can ever go back to EXT3.
what kills me is that it there is an extra fee to downgrade to 7.04. THAT'S POINTLESS. i can't think of a good reason to even include that as an option, ubuntu gets better every time. can someone explain this to me?
Yeih! its like a price discount, you buy the laptop, then you erease Crapbuntu and install windows 7, legally and with a discount :) because you dont pay for Windows Vista
mmm...looks like there r too many dell fanbois here.
or myb dell r paying all of u with cookies?
this is pathetic.
Mac OS X rocks
Freakin $1000 for a 13" lightweight laptop with linux?
No way in hell that thing is LIGHTWEIGHT. It's a thick, ugly, heavy, massive beast.
So, if I already have one XPS 13 is there any chance to get this Ubuntu from Dell??
Not being offered in the UK. Rip-off Britain again