Dell has launched a laptop pre-installed with Mandriva Linux with a price tag of €759 (£510).
The laptop is "one of the most affordable notebooks available in developed countries", Mandriva claimed in a statement. Gaël Duval, the co-founder of Mandriva, said on Monday that he hopes the laptop will be available in other countries at a later date.
The Dell laptop is a Latitude 110L model with a 15-inch screen, DVD drive, Wi-Fi capabilities and between 256MB and 1,280MB RAM. The laptop is installed with Mandriva Linux Limited Edition 2005, which includes various open source applications such as the productivity suite OpenOffice.org, image manipulation application GIMP and the Firefox browser.
The laptop is targeted at French students, who can take advantage of a low rate loan if they decide to purchase the product. Non-students can also purchase the laptop, although they are not offered any financial deals.
Dell is not the first PC vendor to offer laptops pre-installed with Linux. Last year, HP started offering its HP Compaq Business Notebook pre-installed with SuSE or Mandrake Linux — the forerunner of the current Mandriva product.
More information on the Mandriva laptop can be found on the Dell Web site.
Talkback
Perhaps Dell is only doing this because they see it as way of selling cheaper systems...at least ones that appear cheaper. I really doubt they will offer their 24x7 support for this. Their current support is highly challenged fixing windows problems, let alone Linux oddities.
I don't know about the rest of the Linux community,but I think this is a good thing. This will really put Linux to the test, on ordinary users. It's the way Microsoft has improved their desktop.
You have to realize this: Currently most people who use Linux are Linux users, not ordinary computer users. An everyday Linux user doesnt care about inconsistencies with drag and drop, a small library of commercial video games, tedious software installs (from source), etc. We like the freedom. There are groing pains with freedom in any shape and form (just look at Iraq).
Does Dell really think the demand is there?
I don't think so. Linux distributions are just not ready for the mainstream, probably never will be. Don't get me wrong, there may be an initial draw, due to curiosity. Some may find Linux to be a better desktop solution (myself included). But most will run back screaming to Windows, after they can't get an application installed.
Dell will not release this in the United States, at least not until they figure out how they can make a lot of money out of it. Come to think of it, here in the states, there will not be any large computer vendor selling fully supported Linux workstations and laptops.
Here is the way I see it,
In the industry there is huge bed. In it lies Microsoft, Dell and IBM, to the foot of the bed we have a cot, which houses Apple. Finally, on the floor, are all of the various Linux distributions, content with never making it to the bed.
I wish Dell the best, and I hope it makes Mandriva even better :)
There must be some demand.
Here's some companies selling Linux desktops.
http://www.addonshop.com/
http://www.emperorlinux.com/
http://www.ibexpc.com/
http://www.linare.com/
http://www.linspire.com/
http://www.linuxcertified.com/
http://www.microtelpc.com/
http://www.outpost.com/
http://shoprcubed.com/
http://www.sub300.com/
http://www.systemax.com/divisions.htm
http://www.walmart.com/
http://www.xandros.com/