Dell has seen steady sales growth and low return rates with its Inspiron Mini 9 netbooks running Ubuntu, despite reports that MSI experienced substantially higher return rates with its Wind series running SuSE Linux compared to the XP platform, according to Laptop. A third of the Mini 9 devices are shipped with Linux. "We have done a very good job explaining to folks what Linux is,” says Jay Pinkert of Dell.

With low price points contributing to the appeal of netbooks in general, the extra savings provided by Linux-based systems could be a factor driving sales against the pricier alternative, XP. “When you look at the sweet spot for this category it is price sensitivity, and Linux enabled us to offer a lower price entry point,” said John New, Dell's senior product manager.

The Dell representatives noted that the customer satisfaction with Ubuntu has been comparable to XP, with both systems showing "very low" return rates. New suggests that the success can be attributed to the company's focus on educating the consumer about their purchase before taking an order.

Dell will taking pre-orders for its Mini 10 starting February 26th, although the first units will ship with XP and the Ubuntu bundles will arrive later.