Windows 8

Hot on the heels of Microsoft’s announcement that Windows 8 is coming to town on October 26, Dell this week decided to throw Linux users a bone by reaffirming the company’s commitment to open source software and developer communities. More than just lip service, Dell plans to inject a Linux laptop into its US product portfolio later this year, one that’s based on an open source developer notebook serving its Project Sputnik pilot program. That laptop is a Dell XPS 13with Ubuntu 12.04 LTS pre-loaded.

Dell initially conceived Sputnik as a six-month exploratory pilot, but based on the positive response, has now decided to turn it into a shipping product in select geographies, which presumably includes the US. Dell already sells Ubuntu laptops in other parts of the world, but pulled out of the US market two years ago.

Laptops in Dell's Project Sputnik program start at $1370.

“[Project Sputnik] represents the first of many new ideas Dell employees will test with customers or partners through the program, and we look forward to supporting Sputnik to be successful as it becomes a product this fall,” Nnamdi Orakwue, executive sponsor of the Dell incubation program and executive assistant to Michael Dell, said in a statement.

Linux had a chance to gain significant ground in the mainstream market when Windows Vista stumbled out of the gate in late 2006, but it ultimately failed to capture an audience large enough to give Microsoft the willies. Half a decade later, Linux is again in position to make a run at mainstream consumers with so much uncertainty surrounding Windows 8 and its vastly overhauled user interface.

That might sound like a pipe dream to Windows users, but Linux has come a long way in the past six years. Just ask Dell — since announcing Project Sputnik a little over two months ago, Dell says it “continued to be amazed by the amount and quality of interest and input” it has received, a sentiment that should put Microsoft, and other OEMs, on alert.