Anything that can be done to loosen the grip of Microsoft as the dominant and domineering operating system should be welcome by all computer users. Improvements, value for money, choice, and excellence all come from competition. The stranglehold of Microsoft has denied people from all over the world the benefits for many years. Any entrepreneurs with the audacity to stand up to Bill Gate should receive our full support. It is in our interest as consumers to ensure that operating and office software developed by other companies will be successful. No monopoly should ever be tolerated in a free and fair global market. Remember if IBM was not generous enough to allow their basic computer design to be copied by other manufactures, computers would never be so affordable for so many people and we would still live in the dark ages technologically speaking! Microsoft has been rightly taken to task for its anti competitive practices.

Wing, Poole, UK

Well Done Dell!

Vista is such a nightmare to use.

It's about time there was an OS alternative for non-technical PC users.

David, London,

Macs are overpriced, over-hyped, and do not provide the kind of keyboard shortcuts that a geek like self requires! ;) It also flies in the face of Gestalt's law of experience. ;)

Siddhu, Edinburgh, UK

At last! A computer operating system that works and doesn't have critical errors! The Free Market triumphs again!

Chris, Letchworth,

And preinstalled burning chips. I love this sir

Firozali A.Mulla MBA PhD, Dar-Es-Salaam, Tanzania

Mary C. Rajala - error message "corrupt file" could easily be a disk problem (=hardware, not Microsoft error), and surely you had backups of your important files?

Paul, New Forest, England

Given that Dell have been shipping only Windows Vista lately and that does not work with such popular free software as Zone Alarrm, Skype and AVG the demands placed on Dell's support by irritated customers trying to avoid Vista may well explain the move.

Andreas Ladas, London, UK

Anything that can be done to loosen the grip of Microsoft as the dominant and domineering operating system should be welcome by all computer users. Improvements, value for money, choice, and excellence all come from competition. The stranglehold of Microsoft has denied people from all over the world the benefits for many years. Any entrepreneurs with the audacity to stand up to Bill Gate should receive our full support. It is in our interest as consumers to ensure that operating and office software developed by other companies will be successful. No monopoly should ever be tolerated in a free and fair global market. Remember if IBM was not generous enough to allow their basic computer design to be copied by other manufactures, computers would never be so affordable for so many people and we would still live in the dark ages technologically speaking! Microsoft has been rightly taken to task for its anti competitive practices.

Wing, Poole, UK

When I bought a Linux PC rom HP it was just a few pounds cheaper than a similar Windows version, despite Windows XP Pro being over £100 at the time.

You will probably be better off buying a Windows PC, rejecting the licence agreement, claiming a refund, then loading your free Linux.

Mark, Manchester, UK

It's really nice and I appreciate the decision.I believe that with this step more and more people around the world
will have the experience of real operating system
Mahim,Delhi,India

MAHIM VARSHNEY, DELHI, INDIA/DELHI

All I can say is if the customer service for the systems using Linux is like the current customer service, good luck. I've had 4 Dell computers, and I'm done there. My last experience was a nightmare and the support service I paid for was a ripoff. The subcontractor couldn't get my wireless setup to work and nor could techies and troubleshooters at my local Internet provider.

I'm going to Mac next time.

Kay Day, Jacksonville, FL, USA

Bravo! Microsoft has the belief that the world cannot function
without it! They act act as though mainstream business is completely at their mercy. This decision to sell the Linux product by Dell is a move to loosen the Microsoft grip on business world and home computing! Bravo!

Arthur Paoletti, Highlands, NC

I think that this is good news. I have Ubuntu installed on 2 machines including a Dell laptop and am in the process of switching completely from XP.

Pat Brown, St. Joseph Island, Ontario, Canada

"Let's not forget Apple's OS X which sits on top of Linux"
last time i checked, OS X was UNIX, not linux.
and leopard+dell is not going to "send microsoft to the history books". people will continue to buy computers with windows pre-installed, partly because it's familiar to them, and partly because they have not been informed better.
i'm a long-time *nix user, but i don't think this move will make as much of a difference as it's supposed to, and certainly won't put microsoft in any danger
remember; if microsoft goes bust, so does dell. the average person is not going to want to buy a computer with linux pre-installed when they have been using windows their entire life. most of dell's profits will continue to come from pc's being shipped with WINDOWS, no matter the better options out there

reversial, mass, usa

Does Dell understand that the majority of the people that signed up on their website asking for Linux were alreading running Linux and will never buy a PC from Dell anyway?
All they were trying to do was to prove their point by having Dell sell Linux PC's.
I guarantee that Dell will not sell 5,000 PC's with Linux pre-installed from June2007 through May 2008. And I am willing to bet that by next year, Dell will not be selling Linux PC's anymore.
I have tried Linux a few times. Most consumers will not devote the time to learn and will not do away from running the programs they want, once they find out that Linux will not run the things they want. And please, forget it about wine, etc.!

Eduardo Cruz, Colorado Springs, CO

Bravo Dell and bravo Mark Shuttleworth looks like your Ubuntu venture is about to pay off.

Rich Hennigan, Beverly, New Jersey

Great job Dell. My next computer will most certaily be a Dell Linux system.

chris k, TAMPA,

Let's not forget Apple's OS X which sits on top of Linux and with its 10.5 Leopard coming in the fall; coupled with all of the Apple products: iPod, iPhone, iTV, iSneaks and everything else, it looks like Microsoft is headed for the history books. I went off on an unfortunate sidebar, but now I return back toi Apple.
Cherrio, Billy-Bob!

John Warren Gotsch, Budapest, Hungary

the issue is not the o/s ,the issue is india tech support, remove india as tech support and the stock will soar

dell field tech, united states , america

Will be a wonderful change. Due to a "corrupt microsoft file" all was lost on our 2 yr. old home pc - thier error, our expense.

Mary C. Rajala, Covington, USA / Michigan

Its about time that someone takes a swing at Microsoft. Now if Microsoft will get the picture and start droping their prices on their product everything will be just fine.

Orion, Phoenix,

Bravo Dell, there is room for two major operating systems out there for the price conscious consumer.

P. Ragins, Philadelphia, PA

I currently have Ubuntu installed on both my laptop and my wife's desktop. I dual-booted for a while because I thought that there were some Windows programs I couldn't live without. Funny thing, though. I found myself using Ubuntu more and more. I also figured out that there is a Linux version of almost every Windows program I regularly use. I wouldn't have considered buying Dell before, but now I will, especially given that I plan to replace my wife's computer within the year. Savvy move by Dell, building a movement that they could then monetize.

John Eitel, Ann Arbor, USA/Michigan

I say good for Dell.

I'm not militantly anti-Microsoft, but their new Vista OS is terribly bloated and cumbersome. It's nice to have options.

The Linux PC will be a good and (hopefully) less expensive option for people who just need a reliable computer for everyday tasks.

superoog, La Habra,

Competition is a good thing, a really good thing.
Innovation is a good thing. Its the engine that makes for growth.
Open source is a good thing. It obviates a lot of the sneaky stuff embedded in Windows. And that's true; a study of network traffic would suprise even the most oblivious user.

If Linux is adopted by a significant portion of the market we would have a growth surge to rival the previous 10 years. Costs will go down, performance up, reliability and privacy up.

I use Linux in all of our servers, have not had any failures in 5 years. I use Linux on a desktop and it is maturing rapidly.

Go Dell.

Mike Westkamper, Old Saybrook, ct

I believe that it is about time that a major manufacturer has decided to validate Ubuntu and Linux by offering it to consumers as an option instead of Microsoft.

Gordon Eldridge, Lexington, USA/Mississippi