Dell DECIDES to sell NOTEBOOKS without operating systems by [highlight]customer request[/highlight]

On the Direct2Dell company blog, Matt Domsch, Linux Software Architect for Dell, announced that Dell has added its Latitude LINE of notebooks PCs to its n-Series lineup of products. n-Series are Dell products that ship with no operating system pre-installed. The Latitude notebooks will join Dell's Dimension and OptiPlex desktop computers, both of which are already being sold under the n-Series.

According to Domsch, the decision to sell Latitude notebooks PCs without any operating system pre-installed is a direct result of Dell IdeaStorm. IdeaStorm, which was launched by Dell little more than a week ago, is an interactive website which allows users to post ideas they would like to see Dell work on. The ideas are then then voted on, and the most popular ONES make it to the IdeaStorm front page. [highlight]Apparently, three of the top four spots on the website all deal with Linux.[/highlight] The third topic, which is the one Dell is trying to address by ADDING its Latitude notebooks to the n-Series lineup, is about shipping notebook PCs with Linux pre-installed on them. According to Domsch, the move brings Dell "a bit closer" to Linux laptops.

"As with other n-Series products, Dell hasn't tested any particular Linux distribution and doesn't offer software support for running Linux on these, so we encourage you to join our Linux mailing lists and to use the one of your chosen distribution for community-based support," said Domsch on his blog.

"is this a good idea" ? >>

http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=6247no OS pre-installed = cheaper computer. plus, you are free to do with it as you wish, not quite like you built it yourself, but, heh, its a step closer to making name brands what people want them to be..The other issue has always been the negligible (if any) price reduction for not having to pay for Windows.