This is hardly news, but Canonical and Dell have inked a deal that will allow users here in the United States to purchase Linux based desktops and laptops. I’ve been using Linux on the desktop and laptop for nearly four years. I’ve continued to use a Windows desktop at work and at home because I’ve had to. I’ve been rethinking my options at home in the past year. I’ve even toyed with the idea of using a Macintosh, which is still not a bad option. In the past year I’ve been using Ubuntu on my notebook and I’ve become convinced that it’s more than ready for prime time.
With the increase of spyware, viruses and trojans Microsoft Windows has become an increasingly hazardous choice as a desktop or server operating system. Linux distributions have continued to evolve and the adoption of open source software has become more of mainstream choice in the last few years. I hope the Canonical and Dell partnership will be the beginning of real choice in desktop OS’es. So much open source software comes standard with Ubuntu that aside from some specialty applications it’s hard to imagine any negatives for the average users. Recently it was interesting to read that Michael Dell himself was using a Ubuntu 7.04 notebook in his home.
Here’s a link to an interview with Canonical founder Mark Shuttleworth. Congratulations to both Dell and Canonical on a great decision and a great option for users.