Barrier broken: Dell to ship preloaded Linux systems
updated 03:55 pm EDT, Wed March 28, 2007
Dell to ship Linux PCs
Dell will soon begin shipping computers in the US pre-installed with Linux, the company said today on its Ideas in Action news blog. The system builder promised to offer both desktops and portables with the open-source OS in the near future after a questionnaire showed that over 70 percent of respondents were willing to use Linux at home or at work. Forum-based software help would be enough as long as drivers and hardware support was present, the customers said.
No timetable was given for adding Linux as a choice for new systems, but an update was promised in coming weeks which would outline which PCs and Linux variants would be available.
Although frequently accused of being closely associated with Microsoft, the company has increasingly turned away from Windows in its computer lineup, recently shipping some of its Dimension desktops with FreeDOS to help Linux installers and releasing Chinese models with a ready-to-use Linux distribution.
