Dell to launch 'Project Sputnik' this fall

Dell has announced a fall release for Project Sputnik, a notebook targeted specifically at developers.

This official developer laptop will be based on the Dell XPS 13 and run the Linux operating system rather than Windows -- Ubuntu 10.04 LTS will be pre-loaded, providing an ideal computing environment for developers.

Project Sputnik is optimized to provide complete client-to-cloud solution, using a full set of Linux hardware drivers as well as Cloud and Profile tools. Developers will be able to use these features to immediately create micro-instances and easily push these directly to production servers. There will be a library of profiles, including Ruby and Android, which will expedite the lengthy set-up process usually involved when creating new development environments and tool chains.

Project Sputnik was launched to a select group of beta testers in May and positive feedback from the development community has ushered in the official launch. "By listening to developers, Dell can provide them with solutions and products to help make them more productive and allow for greater innovation," said Barton George, project Sputnik's lead and director of Dell's web vertical marketing.

"We have continued to be amazed by the amount and quality of interest and input we have received."

This is not the first time that Dell has released a laptop running a Linux build rather than the popular Windows operating system. The Dell Inspiron Mini 9, released in 2008, ran a customized version of Ubuntu's Netbook Remix.

With Project Sputnik, however, Dell is demonstrating their commitment to open source software, releasing a notebook targeted at developers with an unmodified Linux build. This new laptop will help alleviate much of the work involved with setting up and maintaining a robust development environment.