• Location: IRC channel #ubuntu-meeting
• Agenda: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ServerTeam/Meeting

Today Lionel Menchaca, Dell’s Digital Media Manager, announced the availability of three different systems with Ubuntu 7.04 installed: the XPS 410n and Dimension E520n desktops as well as the Inspiron E1505n notebook. These systems will be available at the Dell website by 4pm CST today along with hardware support for their customers in USA.

Dell users can opt for the fee-based OS support provided by Canonical, including a 30-day Get Started, One-year Basic and one-year Standard or use the Dell community forum for help and also get the latest updates from the Dell-Linux team.

During last week’s developer summit in Sevilla, the Ubuntu Mobile and Embedded (UME) project has progressed quite a bit. Some technical specifications, source code, and even a few preliminary packages have been uploaded to the Launchpad archive.

UME now has a mailing list, and you can talk to them on freenode at #ubuntu-mobile. Check their wiki page for more information about available resources.

In a recent story published by Heise Online, D-Link is publishing a LiveDVD featuring the Kubuntu GNU/Linux operating system. This DVD features a router development environment for the HorstBox Professional VoIP router (page available in German only). The HorstBox Professional contains a WLAN router with ADSL modem as well as a system that runs the Asterisk telephone system.

According to D-Link open source is an important component of its product strategy. “That a complete development environment would be made available was already apparent when HorstBox Professional was still in its conception phase. The reason for this is obvious: The requirements that future-proof systems capable of flexibly responding to the desires of customers need to meet are continuing to grow. In this way we can meet these requirements in an optimal fashion,” Horst Toddenroth, head of the Advanced Products and Solutions Department at D-Link Central Europe, said.

Head on over to Heise Online and read the story in its entirety.

Information Week posted an article on a desktop battle between Ubuntu and Microsoft.

Is Linux finally ready to take on Windows as a desktop OS? We tried out both Vista and Ubuntu on individual PCs to see which works better. Here’s who won.

The articles covers the installations, hardware and PnP support, software installation and networking, word processing, multimedia and image management, as well as backing up and restoring. Overall a fair shake of the Ubuntu versus Microsoft battle with an outcome that is very respectful.

Ubuntu’s best strength is handling the ordinary task-based day-to-day stuff. Vista has a level of completeness and polish that some people find it hard to do without.

To read the complete review, take a look at the Ubuntu Linux Vs. Windows Vista: The Battle For Your Desktop.

Everyone is talking about the latest Ubuntu release. We’ve heard that even the Berlin subway info system has got in on the act.

The text of the announcement says:

The free OS Ubuntu is available in version 7.04 from April 19th. For more information: http://www.ubuntuusers.de

Berlin metro system is now officially our favourite!

If you have more great marketing stories about Ubuntu, tell us about them at fridge-devel@lists.ubuntu.com.

We have a feeling that someday everyone will be using Ubuntu. It’s getting more foolproof with every release, and hey, it’s free for the takin’.

And it seems a terrible shame to throw away perfectly good old computers just because they won’t run a modern version of Windows. What we need is a Granny Linux, something that is safe from both malice at one end of the modem cable and bafflement at the other.

I think I may have found it, in the form of Xubuntu (xubuntu.org), a version of Ubuntu Linux that runs on small and old computers.

Ubuntu Linux backer Canonical has launched a beta version of its Launchpad service, part of an effort to make open-source programming methods a better match for Microsoft.

Launchpad is a Web site that provides a foundation for Ubuntu’s cooperative programming projects, with features for tracking bugs, managing source code repositories, and planning new features. Canonical Chief Executive Mark Shuttleworth believes is broader use could help marshal free and open-source software forces more effectively against Microsoft.

If you’re looking for a new computer and you’re not sure whether to go Windows or Mac, I’d suggest also paying some attention to the “L” word. No, not that “L” word. I’m talking about Linux.

If you’re new to the Linux world and want to compare the experience to Windows or the Mac OS, I highly recommend Ubuntu as the best place to start. It will cost you nothing to try out, and you might just be surprised at how good “free” really is.