[shawger]

But there are some things Dell will never be able to provide for Ubuntu, even if they actually support it. For example, Microsoft Office will not run on Ubuntu. Ok, use openoffice. The problem is that openoffice isn't Microsoft Office and isn't fully compatible or even as functional. The same goes for Photoshop, and all the other mainstream Windows applications.

And how many users will go find a fix for whatever problem they have? You or I might, but the average person won't do that for themselves. They'll call Dell and Dell's customer support won't have a clue what they're talking about.

Of course Dell will make sure that the computers are pre-loaded with whatever drivers/settings are required to make the machine run properly the first time. The main issues will occur when people don't see the familiar software names.