Ubuntu Look

I do appreciate Dell trying to sell Ubuntu machines, but frankly I am surprised they are selling any at all. Here is why:

Lets take a look at Dell’s huge (sarcastic) selection of two (yes, two) Ubuntu machines. One is a desktop the other is a laptop. That alone is bad enough, but if you look even further, it only gets worse.

Perhaps the most noticeable option missing is on the desktop side. You can’t even get a Core 2 Duo processor. The only processor option on the desktop is an Pentium dual-core. Come on, Dell.

Read more at Linux Loop

You may be wondering why I’m reviewing a book on Ubuntu 7.10 (”Gutsy Gibbon”) on the advent of the release of Ubuntu 8.04 (”Hardy Heron”). If I’ve waited all this time to review the Hudson and Hudson book (released last January), why not wait until 8.04 is released, and the 4th edition of this book is written and published (as I write this, there are 18 days to go until the 8.04 release date)? Good question. Originally, I had given serious thought to just that course of action. Then something changed.

I primarily “earn my daily bread” as a technical writer. Most of the time, my jobs are temporary contract work, so I don’t stay at any one place for very long (on the order of months, usually…though I’m always in search of the “job of my dreams” that will keep me forever). Most of the time, I’m hired by a “Windows shop” and find myself working on a Windows XP machine (no Windows Vista yet, thank goodness). I usually adapt to the tools I’m provided and make suggestions where I can. Recently though, I was hired to work in a different kind of environment.

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MegaLap comes with a choice of Intel Core Duo processors. The $2,000 notebook I reviewed had a Core 2 Duo T7400 operating at 2.16GHz. The machine also sports a 17-inch LCD display with 1680×1050 resolution, which works well for viewing videos in full screen. Speaking of multimedia, this desktop replacement has four speakers with a subwoofer at the bottom that can be loud without suffering from distortion. Graphics are powered by a GeForce Go 7700, which has 512MB of dedicated RAM. There are two audio jacks under the touchpad: one for headphones, and another for microphones.

Read more at Linux.com