The time has arrived, Dell are now shipping selected computers with Ubuntu Feisty Fawn 7.04, oh what a happy day it is for Linux users like me, although I think that in reality very few people will actually opt for the option, but still it is nice that big companies like Dell do actually listen to its customers. What next? Maybe they should give the option on all computers.
If you do not know what Ubuntu Linux is then I shall give you a very quick introduction to it:
Ubuntu is the leader in the Linux world and is based off of Debian which means that installing new programs is easier than it is in Windows, simply select the program you want to install and it does it for you and most software available for Ubuntu and Linux is totally, 100% free because it is open source (which means no company owns it, it is created and updated by a team of just about anyone from just about anywhere all round the world).
Ubuntu uses a window manager called Gnome (there are other options available) but Gnome is really easy to use once you get familiar with. And finally, the community behind Linux is amazing, you can say goodbye to the world of customer support phone lines whenever you have a problem. With Linux the community knows the answers to near enough every problem that you have, and they are always happy to help, especially with Ubuntu. When I converted from Windows to Ubuntu I knew that there would be problems and whenever I did have a problem within minutes of asking someone in the community for help I had plenty of people assisting me on the Ubuntu Forums.
There you go a simple introduction to Ubuntu Linux and how happy I am about Ubuntu been pre-installed on Dell systems.
Simon North
