We knew it was coming, but today's the day. This afternoon, Dell will begin offering three different PC models pre-loaded with Linux, of the Ubuntu 7.04 Feisty Fawn variety.There will be two desktops (the XPS 410n and Dimension E520n) and one notebook (the E1505n) available at www.dell.com/open, with starting prices ranging from $599 to $899.
Dell will offer hardware support, and has also created a new Linux section on the company's user forum for software support.
So why is Dell getting so much attention for giving consumers a choice of operating systems? Because Linux has become a lot more user friendly in the past few years, with some great desktop software for the Gnome and KDE graphical user interfaces. But most users aren't going to purchase a PC that comes preloaded with Windows and then futz with it, installing a new operating system and then struggling to make sure all the drivers and programs work.
Oh, and did we mention that those three new Linux PCs seem to be about $50 to $100 cheaper than comparable PCs pre-loaded with Windows?
