Dell to begin shipping all netbooks with Windows and Linux simultaneously

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Dell has been offering Ubuntu Linux as an option for its netbooks since day one. But the company has made a habit with its last few product launches of offering Windows XP or Vista at launch and only offering Linux later on. Now that appears to be changing. The Dell Inspiron Mini 10v launched this week with both Windows and Ubuntu Linux options available, and according to BetaNews, Dell promises to do the same thing on all future netbook launches.

That’s the good news. The bad news is that customizing a Dell Inspiron Mini 10v with Ubuntu doesn’t seem to save you any money, even though Dell doesn’t have to pay the Windows licensing fee. The base price for an Inspiron Mini 10v is $299 whether you decide to go with Windows or Linux.

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Canonical Ubuntu 12.04

Posted on Thursday, May 14th, 2009, 10:44 am by Brad Linder

Claudio Miranda

This is fantastic news IMO. I've always had issue with the limited GNU/Linux options on their systems. While this is strictly limited to the netbooks, it's definitely an improvement! I wish more PC manufacturers would follow Dell's lead on this.
Nick

That's not really bad news, except from Microsoft's point of view. Linux hasn't gotten more expensive, Windows has gotten cheaper.
gm

where is the price difference! THIS SUCKS
nicfer

If windows and linux versions cost the same and considering the fact that linux is licence cost-free, why not to make a dual boot option? That would be cool to people who are indecise about what OS to choose. And reduce the insanely high quantity of models to choice.
ostrich

This is ridiculous. Only the top mini10 actually has a price decrease from choosing Linux. So basically they are making Linux people pay extra (i.e. just as much as buying a windows xp license).
gm

damn microsoft. there should be a price difference.
Rich

This is not the case in the UK. The Ubuntu version is £199 and in WinXP version £279. The only difference is the HD. It's only an 8GB SSD in the Ubuntu version, but with the £80 saving you can afford to buy a nice one yourself!
Mark

For the exact same hardware, the Linux version would require Dell to do the same work as the Windows version … dell would have a disk image for each one.

So the Linux version should be cheaper than the Windows version by the amount of the cost of the Windows license.

That they are the same price probably means that the cost to Dell of the Windows license must be very low indeed, perhaps only a few dollars. That means at least that Microsoft aren't amking any money off this.

However, even so, the elephant in the room is that, from a purchaser's point of view, the Linux version SHOULD be seen as by far the better value. The Linux version, after all, comes with a full suite of licensed desktop applications (GPL license) with no time limits (they are not trialware). That no-cost Linux software is probably worth more (in terms of value) than the base cost of the hardware!
milk

let's wait and see pricing when WIN 7 hits the market. will it be still the same as for UBUNTU? THAT would be interesting.
Claudio Miranda

Probably not if Microsoft is going to offer the upsale of Windows 7 from its Starter Edition.
milk

let's wait and see pricing when WIN 7 hits the market. will it be still the same as for UBUNTU? THAT would be interesting.
Claudio

Probably not if Microsoft is going to offer the upsale of Windows 7 from its Starter Edition.