14 DAY TRIAL // A while ago, Dell Inc. company made an announcement according to which it would start releasing desktop computers and notebook systems with pre-installed Linux as an option. At the time Dell said it did not decide on what Linux distro would be shipped with their systems. In the end, after the suspense and rumors reached a really high quota, Canonical broke the silence and stated that its brand new Ubuntu 7.04, Feisty Fawn, was the chosen Linux version to run on Dell's computers.
The reasons behind this choice are pretty visible, Ubuntu being one of the most popular open source operating systems at this time, enjoying all qualities of a modern, reliable, accessible and user-friendly system. As the final date for the launch of the offer was getting close, rumors that what Dell actually does is actually a conspiracy against the entire open source community started circulating all over the Internet. One of them, which took pretty much amplitude, targeted one of Dell's policies. According to an anonymous post on the Internet, Dell was imposing some limits on the Ubuntu pre-installed computers per customer. Later the entire news proved to be just a slander, as the respective limit was actually an older policy applying to all Dell products from the Home & Home Office category.
However, in the end all things went as planned and Dell has successfully managed to launch its catchy offer later this May. The three Linux pre-loaded products were a XPS 410n Desktop, a Dimension E520n Desktop and an Inspiron E1505n Notebook. At the time it was said that Dell would offer hardware support for these systems and all customers would be able to get help and latest updates from dell.com official website. There was also the option of extending the default warranty from 2 up to 4 years, as well as adding "CompleteCare" accidental damage protection. As it can be noticed, the respective options are no longer in Dell's offer. They have been removed from all Ubuntu systems. They remained for the Vista systems tough, as some Dell critics noticed. Now many wonder, again, if Dell's intentions of supporting Linux are as clean as announced, or have they been painted up as result of a new PR move?