The latest editions of Dell’s developer model notebooks are available for order, the company announced. Dell said it is shipping the XPS 13 Developer Edition notebook with Ubuntu 14.04 LTS included. Ubuntu is an open source software platform that runs on applications ranging from smartphones and tablets to servers and the cloud.
The XPS 13 (pictured above) marks the fifth generation of the notebook since the introduction of the Project Sputnik developer models four years ago. That project started as an open-ended exploratory project to identify and gain input on what developers might want in their ideal notebooks.
“As the project has evolved we have continued to solicit and incorporate feedback,” said George Barton, who oversees Project Sputnik, in a blog post. “Thanks to your support the XPS 13 developer edition has gone from one, to multiple configs.”
U.S. Only for Now
The XPS 13 has a 13-inch Quad HD+ InfinityEdge display and comes pre-loaded with the Ubuntu 14.04 LTS SP1. The Dell XPS 13 Developer Edition notebook models come in three Core i7 configurations, all of which include the sixth-generation Core i7 Skylake processor. A model with a Core i5 is said to be forthcoming, containing 1,920 x 1,090 non-touch display and 8 GB of RAM and 256 GB SSD.
The new models come with either 8 GB or 16 GB of memory, depending on the configuration, and up to 1 TB of storage. Solid-state drive options of 256 GB and 512 GB are also available. Additionally, each of the three notebooks has a 13-inch touchscreen display with resolution of up to 3,200 x 1,800.
The new XPS 13 developer edition lineup is only available in the U.S. for now, but Dell said that Canadian and European models are in the works and should be available soon. Dell also plans to update the PC to Ubuntu 16.04 LTS later this spring, perhaps as soon as April.
Developer-centric
Will the new offerings be of much interest to anyone besides developers and other tinkerers? Probably not, Jan Dawson, chief analyst for Utah-based Jackdaw Research, told us.
“It looks like this is just an Ubuntu version, which has essentially no relevance for mainstream users at all,” said Dawson. “There are, of course, non-developer Ubuntu users, but the numbers are absolutely tiny. So this is very much a niche product, not something that’s going to attract mainstream users in any meaningful numbers.”
The Dell XPS 13 Developer Edition can be purchased starting at $ 1,550. The regular XPS 13 notebook is available for about $ 500 less for non-developers who are interested in the XPS line.
In addition to the new XPS 13 developer edition, Dell also announced a new series of Linux-based Dell Precision workstation notebooks. The Precision 5510, 3510, 7510, and 7710 models come in 15-inch and 17-inch varieties, and are also preloaded with Ubuntu 14.04 LTS. The Precision notebooks are available now.
Image Credit: Screenshot of XPS 13 Developer Edition notebook, with Ubuntu 14.04 LTS, via Dell.
