[ Update– April 7: i5 config now available]
[Update — March 28: Precision 7510 and 7710 now available]
Today I am excited to announce the worldwide launch of the Precision line of Ubuntu-based workstations along with the US launch of the 5th generation of the XPS 13 developer edition.
Part of Project Sputnik, these systems began as an open-ended exploratory project to identify what developers wanted in an ideal laptop. With the community’s input, Project Sputnik became an official product and continues to evolve. For more of the Sputnik story, including why this has become the perfect platform for Docker, see below.
Before getting into today’s details I would like to thank the entire community for their patience and support as we’ve made our way to launch.
The 5th gen XPS 13 developer edition
- Preloaded with Ubuntu 14.04 LTS
- Augmented with the necessary hardware drivers, tools and utilities
- 6th Generation Intel® Core™ Processors
- InfinityEdge™ display, FHD and QHD+ versions available
- Availability: United Sates (Both Canada and Europe are being readied for launch as we speak, stay tuned for more details.)
Configurations: We are starting out with three i7 configs and plan to add an i5 option. The i5 configuration will come with 8GB RAM, a 256GB SSD and FHD NT. The timing of the i5 config is dependent on the depletion of the current inventory on hand. — Update: i5 config available as of April 7
All of these XPS 13 developer edition configurations come with the Intel wireless card.
i7/8GB
i7/16GB
- 512GB, QHD+T, Intel 8260
- 1TB, QHD+T, Intel 8260
i5/8GB
- 256GB, FHD NT, Intel 8260
The Ubuntu-based Precision mobile workstation line
The Precision mobile workstation line up is composed of four systems. Joining the Precision 5510, successor to the M3800, we have added the Precision 3510, 7510 and 7710 mobile workstations.
This represents our complete Precision mobile workstation portfolio. All of the systems below are fully configurable.
Dell™ Precision 5510, mobile workstation
- Preloaded with Ubuntu 14.04 LTS
- Next generation of the world’s thinnest and lightest true 15” mobile workstation
- PremierColor™ 4K InfinityEdge™ display
- Starting weight of just 3.93lbs (1.78kg) and a form factor that is less than 0.44” (11.1mm) thick
- Up to: 6th generation Intel Xeon mobile quad-core processor, professional grade NVIDIA Quadro M1000M graphics, and 32GB of memory
- Thunderbolt 3
- Availability: worldwide
Dell™ Precision 3510, mobile workstation
- Preloaded with Ubuntu 14.04 LTS
- Affordable, fully configurable 15” mobile workstation
- Up to: 6th generation Intel Xeon mobile quad-core processor, professional grade graphics, and up to 32GB of memory
- FullHD (1920×1080) anti-glare matte screen option plus optional touchscreen
- Availability: worldwide
Dell™ Precision 7510, mobile workstation
- Preloaded with Ubuntu 14.04 LTS
- World’s most powerful 15” mobile workstation
- Up to: 6th generation Intel Xeon mobile quad-core processor, professional grade graphics, 3TB of storage and 64GB of memory
- PremierColor™ UltraSharp™ 4K UltraHD (3840×2160) screen option
- Availability: worldwide
Dell™ Precision 7710, mobile workstation
- Preloaded with Ubuntu 14.04 LTS
- World’s most powerful 17” mobile workstation
- Up to: 6th generation Intel Xeon mobile quad-core processor, professional grade graphics, 4TB of storage and 64GB of memory
- PremierColor™ UltraSharp™ 4K UltraHD (3840×2160) anti-glare screen option
- Availability: worldwide
Ordering a Precision: To get to the Ubuntu option, click on the “Customize & Buy” button on the system landing page. Select Ubuntu Linux in the Operating System section and away you go!
Towers and racks too: In case you didn’t know, we also have a portfolio of fixed Precision workstations — tower and rack — that are available with Ubuntu.
OTA (Over-The-Air) Fixes
There were several minor fixes that were not available in time for launch but have been made available as over the air updates so make sure to run all Ubuntu updates. These fixes pertain to both the XPS 13 and Precisions.
In addition to the OTA fixes, there is a wireless OOBE issue that will be fixed in the factory in the coming weeks. Until then, please follow the following directions http://www.dell.com/support/article/SLN301251
16.04LTS
With regards to updates, although 16.04LTS will be shipping next month, we don’t have a date for when factory installation will become available. That being said, we do plan to support 16.04 LTS for those who choose to upgrade.
To upgrade to the latest LTS, please follow the instructions at http://www.ubuntu.com/download/desktop/upgrade
Project Sputnik — A quick history
How we turned a $40K investment into 10’s of millions of dollars in revenue by focusing on developers.
From humble beginnings
As many of you may know Project Sputnik, as this effort is called, originated with a pitch made to an internal innovation fund four years 
ago. The fund provided a small pot of money (the $40K mentioned above) and six months to see if the idea of a developer laptop would fly. A couple months after we had been given the green light, on May 7, 2012 we announced the project publically asking the community what they would like to see in a developer laptop.
A rough ISO was provided for people to kick the tires and folks were told that if we got enough interest we might be able to turn this project into a product. 10 weeks later, thanks to the amazing interest we received around our beta program, we got the OK to turn project Sputnik into an actual product and in November of 2012 the XPS 13 developer edition became available.
You say you want an evolution
As the project has evolved we have continued to solicit and incorporate feedback. Thanks to your support the XPS 13 developer edition has gone from one, to multiple configs.
On the higher end, we kept getting requests to add a larger system to the lineup. OS architect Jared Dominguez took note of this and spent a bunch of late nights putting together instructions on how to get Ubuntu running on the Precision M3800. From here interest kept mounting and a year later the Ubuntu-based M3800 became an official product. As of today this original workstation offering has expanded to four systems.
DevOps, Cloud launcher and Docker
One of the big ideas we had when we first kicked off project Sputnik was that it would be a DevOps platform. A key piece of this platform
would be a “cloud launcher” that would allow developers to create apps within “micro clouds” on their laptops and then deploy said apps to a public or private cloud. Unfortunately this turned out to be a lot more difficult than we had hoped and we put it on hold.
As luck would have it however, a couple of years later Docker serendipitously came along. Docker containers provide the functionality of our envisioned cloud launcher, allowing applications created locally to be pushed, as is, to the cloud. Because Docker containers run on Linux, with our Ubuntu-based systems, developers can run the containers natively rather than within a virtualized environment like they would on other platforms.
Forward march
Stay tuned to see how, with your support and input, project Sputnik will continue to evolve. Once again, thanks for all the support and stay tuned for the Canadian and European roll outs!
Extra-Credit reading
Pau for now
Posted by Barton George 
in 2010 there were 75 people in attendance. The purpose of this initial invite-only event was to “develop a roadmap for the first release, spec out the software and spend the last two days prototyping and hacking.”
Barton's Blog 