After months of hopes and a final confirmation, Dell will finally release later on Thursday the first three hardware systems that are working under Ubuntu-Linux’s umbrella.

Ubuntu 7.04 (also known as Feisty Fawn) will arrived pre-installed on the XPS 410n and Dimension E520n desktops and the Inspiron E1505n notebook.

According to Dell, these systems will be available at www.dell.com/open by 4pm CST today. Starting price for the E520n desktop and the E1505n notebook is $599; the XPS 410n starts at $899.

As mentioned in a previous blog on Dell’s direct2dell.com site, the Texas giant will only provide support for the hardware it introduces in the machines labeled with the company’s name. For technical issues or how-tos related to Ubuntu 7.04 functioning clients can address either Dell’s Linux forums (http://linux.dell.com) or Canonical (the main supporter and producer of Ubuntu), for a fee-based technical support that can be extended from 30 days to a full year.

Support for proprietary audio and video codecs not included in the Ubuntu Feisty Fawn will not be provided for the moment, but Dell is evaluating options for providing this support in the future.

Dell reassures customers that the company will take care of installing both open source drivers for its hardware (when possible) and partial open source/closed source ("restricted" in Ubuntu terms) drivers when open source ones are not available. For owners of Intel wireless cards and Connexant modems that means they’ll be able to use those with closed source drivers.

Lionel Menchaca, Digital Media Manager, also said that “We will continue to work with vendors to improve the stability of the associated Linux drivers moving forward.”