If you like Dell computers and you're looking for an alternative to Windows, you can get the best of both worlds soon with the company's E520, 1505 and XPS 410 models which sport Ubuntu, a Linux-based OS, ;aunch.

Dell says that it wants to offer its clientele the most options possible to ensure their satisfaction on the product. The company recognizes the existence of a solid crowd devoted to the free OS and says "providing more options to our Linux Enthusiast customer group will hopefully create even more raving fans!!"

Dell says the move will comprise of 1 percent of the total OS mix pf the company that it has installer in its systems. The company says that this translates into roughly 20,000 units a year.

While the Linux community applauds the move by the giant computer distributor, they say that one percent is still not enough to call the move a big step in the proliferation of the OS.

Linux is chosen by a lot of people because of the fact that its free to download and can be customized by programming-savvy users according to their whims. Issues with user-friendliness, however, has kept the mainstream steadily out of reach for Linux.