Been on the Dell web site and I just did a basic spec Inspiron 530 (DC1.6Ghz, 1GB RAM, 160GB HDD) and it came to £322.61 with Ubuntu; the same Vista Basic Home spec (with a free 250GB HDD upgrade) came to £300.24. Both prices included VAT & Shipping. I therefore fail to see the advantage of taking the Ubuntu option, as the whole idea of having a free OS is that the system price is cheaper... clearly not the case if Dell & MS are price supporting the Vista system. I use both Vista (Business Premium) and Ubuntu (7.04) and prefer Vista (with or without Aero), so personally a no-brainer.
Register
The Dell Vista version is cheaper
Been on the Dell web site and I just did a basic spec Inspiron 530 (DC1.6Ghz, 1GB RAM, 160GB HDD) and it came to £322.61 with Ubuntu; the same Vista Basic Home spec (with a free 250GB HDD upgrade) came to £300.24. Both prices included VAT & Shipping. I therefore fail to see the advantage of taking the Ubuntu option, as the whole idea of having a free OS is that the system price is cheaper... clearly not the case if Dell & MS are price supporting the Vista system. I use both Vista (Business Premium) and Ubuntu (7.04) and prefer Vista (with or without Aero), so personally a no-brainer.