Dell XPS 13 Developer Edition – More Than a Laptop Running Linux

As a Developer Evangelist, I tend to travel. Frequently. I recently decided to retire my lovely Sony VAIO Z3 laptop and purchase something with a more recent CPU (more battery life). I narrowed my search down to the Lenovo X250, Lenovo X1 Carbon, Dell XPS 13, Chromebook Pixel 2, or figure out how to import a new VAIO Z from Japan. Unfortunately importing seemed more work than it was worth.

I decided to go with the Dell XPS 13 and here’s why: The Dell XPS 13 Developer Edition is not just a laptop that can run Linux, it is a Linux Laptop.

Due to my travel frequency, I needed a laptop that had great battery life while being light and thin. While I narrowed it down to the 5 laptops mentioned above. Choosing wasn’t easy. Most being Ultrabooks, they carried some sort of compromise or another. The 8GB RAM ceiling being one. I finally decided to go with XPS 13.

Dell is a big company. Being a big company, I can’t simply love or hate them in one gigantic swoop. Some things they do right and some things they do wrong. Well over 3 years ago they did something right, Project Sputnik was born and on July 2012 Dell announced it as an official project. It means the world to me that Dell has been willing to put their weight behind this project and deliver us the Dell XPS 13 Developer Edition and even extend the project further with their so-called Macbook Pro competitor.

The XPS 13 Developer Edition is not just a laptop that can run Linux, it is a Linux Laptop.

Dell didn’t say, “You want to run Linux? Sure, try it out, it should work.” Instead they said, “You want to run Linux? Here’s documentation. Here’s custom driver support. Here are the tools you’ll need. Here’s a community. Here’s the XPS 13 Developer Edition”.

I’m a very big fan of Linux and Ubuntu. Like many others I install it after-the-fact on every computer that I get. Sometimes the experience is rewarding, but dealing with drivers, especially Wi-Fi drivers, has always been a struggle. Dell is the first company to bring Ubuntu to consumer machines in a very big way. Some will say well hey, System76 has been doing it. That is correct, and I like them very much, but System76 is not on the same level as Dell in both in terms of market share as well as manufacturing ability. System76 laptops are great and I’m happy they exists, but anyone who tries a XPS 13 will immediately be impressed with the engineering that went into it.

With Project Sputnik, Dell has managed to take the craftsmanship that is reserved for high-end Windows PCs and Macbook Pros and bring it to Linux developers. They have finally acknowledged that Linux people like nice things too. Our money is just as good as anybody else’s. Also, Dell put so much love into the Developer Edition, that they actually created a unique and totally awesome first-boot video.

Dell, thank you for bringing three generations of the XPS 13 to developers like me. Thank you for showing your support for Linux, for Ubuntu, and for open-source software. Honestly, thank you for a sexy laptop, it’s just great.

More Information & Discussion

Barton’s Blog – This a blog with lots of Project Sputnik information that I believe is run by one of the team members.

Google+ Community – I have no idea if this is considered ‘official’ or not but hey, useful post are awaiting your +1’s.

What are your thoughts?