More Linux-based laptops from Dell

Dell is extending sales of hardware preloaded with Ubuntu Linux in response to customer demand.

Customers in the UK, Germany, France and Spain can purchase pre-loaded versions of Ubuntu Linux 7.10 with built-in DVD playback on the Dell XPS 1330n, in addition to the previously-released Inspiron 530n desktop system, according to an official Dell blog.

US customers have been told they will have “to hold on a week or so.”

The move came after Dell said it had monitored feedback from more than 100,000 visitors on the company’s ideastorm.com website, set up last year to canvas customer opinion on their preferred Linux-based laptop.

“Since we've began offering Ubuntu on some consumer systems, two clear areas of feedback from the IdeaStorm community and Direct2Dell readers have been: offer Ubuntu on more hardware, and offer it worldwide,” said Daniel Judd, Product Group Strategist.

Dell took its first Ubuntu steps in the US last May, when it preloaded the OS on two desktop systems and an Inspiron E1505n laptop.