Dell to offer more Ubuntu systems, HP might follow

According to DesktopLinux.com "Dell isn't resting on its recent consumer Linux PC laurels. The computing giant has added a new laptop -- the Inspiron 1420 Notebook -- to its Ubuntu Linux 7.04 offering. It is also replacing the Dimension E520 desktop with the new, low-priced Inspiron 530."

And while Dell is expanding its GNU/Linux computer offerings, and apparently selling them well, we are seeing indications that HP might be the next to offer GNU/Linux on their desktops:

"Dell's initial success with Ubuntu apparently has caught Hewlett-Packard's (HPQ) attention. Sources close to HP tell me the company hope to offer PCs with Ubuntu Linux pre-installed in a few months -- or perhaps even a few weeks."

And as Joe Panettieri (The VAR Guy) aptly says: "This was supposed to be the year of Microsoft's (MSFT) Windows Vista, which has sold more than 40 million licenses. That's certainly impressive. But if HP ships PCs with Ubuntu pre-installed, it will be the latest indicator that competition is alive and well in the desktop software market."

Of course, we should know what these 40 million licenses really are. A fair share of them are basically forced sales. How many of those are deleted from hard drives just to be replaced with GNU/Linux? So, may this finally be a year of the GNU/Linux desktop?