Introducing the 2020 XPS 13 Developer Edition — (this one goes to 32!)

January 1, 2020

We are proud to announce the latest and greatest Dell XPS 13 Developer Edition. The system, which is based on 10th Gen Intel® Core™ 10nm mobile processors, represents the 10th generation of the XPS 13 Developer Edition (see a list of the previous nine generations below).

This 10th generation system features an updated design and comes with Ubuntu 18.04 LTS preloaded.  Two areas of note are that the new XPS 13 will be available with up to 32GB of RAM as well fingerprint-reader support.  (suppport for the fingerprint-reader support will be available post launch and initially as an update.)

The Dell XPS 13 Developer Edition, 10th generation

 

The Developer Edition, as well as the 32GB Windows configs, will be available in February (initial Windows configs will be available on January 7).  When the Developer Edition launches next month it will be available in the US, Canada and Europe and start at US $1,199.99 (this represents an i5-based Developer Edition with 8GB of RAM, a 256GB SSD, an FHD display and with Ubuntu 18.04 LTS preloaded).

But wait, there’s more: Latitudes and monitors

As with the preceding generation, today’s announcement of the latest XPS 13 Developer Edition is not a decoupled event but is part of a broader Dell product unveiling. In addition to the XPS 13 Developer Edition and its Windows counterpart, Dell Technologies is introducing new products and software across its premium Latitude 9000 series and display portfolios.

Dell UltraSharp 43 4K USB-C Monitor

Latitude 9000 series: Featured as the first devices within the new 9000 series, the Latitude 9510 notebook and 2-in-1 laptops represent a new ultra-premium class of products targeted at executives and mobile professionals.  The 15” commercial PC delivers 5G mobile broadband capabilities, AI-based productivity capabilities, and targets 30-plus hours of battery life.

UltraSharp 27” 4K monitor:  In addition, the new family of monitors includes an 86”4K interactive touch monitor, an UltraSharp 27” 4K USB-C Monitor for creatives with VESA DisplayHDRTM 400 for true color reproduction, and the new Alienware 25” Gaming Monitor with 240Hz refresh rate and 1ms response time.

XPS 13: 32GB, FPR support, larger display & improved unboxing 

Returning to the Dell XPS 13 Developer Edition, as mentioned in the opening, many will be happy to know that when it debuts next month, it will be available with up to 32GB of RAM.  The addition of an option above 16GB is something is a direct request from the community and we are happy to be able to deliver on it.

Fingerprint-reader support:  Another awaited feature is fingerprint-reader support.  While not available at launch, support will soon follow, first as an OTA (over-the-air) update and then as part of the preloaded image.

Dell XPS 13 Developer Edition, 10th gen

4-sided InfinityEdge display:  What’s also very cool is that the latest XPS 13 boasts the first-ever 4-sided InfinityEdge display, which means it is virtually borderless.  In addition, the new display features a 16:10 aspect ratio (up from 16:9 on the prior gen) and while this may seem like a small detail, the extra screen space is noticeable. 

Keycaps and trackpad: A larger display, along with larger keycaps, and trackpad are all contained within a form factor both smaller and thinner than the previous generation.

Unboxing experience: As a result of customer feedback, both the XPS 13 Developer Edition and Windows variant will ship with an improved unboxing experience.  This experience is cleaner, simpler and based on more sustainable packaging. While all Dell packaging is sustainable, the new design greatly increases the ease of recyclability by eliminating foam and single use packaging.

XPS 13 Developer Edition specs in brief

The 2020 XPS 13 developer edition will be available with

  • 10th Gen Intel® Core™ 10nm mobile processors
  • Ubuntu 18.04 LTS
  • Fingerprint reader support (driver initially available via OTA update)
  • Up to 32GB memory
  • Up to 3x faster wireless with Killer™ AX1650 built on Intel WiFi 6 Chipset, supports up to 2TB PCIe SSD
  • Up to 4K Ultra HD+ (3840 x 2400) display

Project Sputnik and Dell’s Linux portfolio – from then to now

The first generation of the XPS 13 developer edition debuted over eight years ago and represents the first system in the Project Sputnik portfolio of developer systems. (See the list of the initial nine generations below).

Guided by feedback:  Project Sputnik, it began as an exploratory effort to find out what the community wanted in a developer-focused laptop. Since the project’s beginning it has been guided by direct input from the developer community and in fact it was the power of the community that pushed the effort from project to product.

Precision joins: Three years after it launched, the svelte XPS 13 developer edition was joined by a beefy Ubuntu-based Precision Mobile workstation.   Within a year this initial power system became a set of four systems and are now in their fourth generation.  Today the Sputnik portfolio consists of the 2020 XPS 13 developer edition along with the Ubuntu-based Dell Precision 5540, 3540, 3541, 7540 and 7740 mobile workstations.

150+ Linux systems:  While project Sputnik is the most visible Linux-based offerings from Dell, it is only a small fraction of the over 150 systems that make up Dell’s Linux portfolio.


The Dell XPS 13 Developer Edition through the generations


Generation One (L321X) — November 29, 2012

  • Ubuntu 12.04LTS
  • CPU: 2nd Generation Intel® Core™ processor (Sandy Bridge)
  • RAM: 8GB
  • SSD: 256GB
  • Display: 1366×768

Generation Two (L322X) — February 18, 2013

New features

  • FHD display (1920 x 1080)
  • 3rd Generation Intel® Core™ (Ivy Bridge)

Generation Three (9333) — November 15, 2013

New features

  • Touch-enabled FHD display
  • 4th Generation Intel® Core™ (Haswell)

Generation Four (9343) — April 9, 2015

New features

  • Ubuntu 14.04
  • 5th Generation Intel® Core™ (Broadwell)
  • 512GB
  • QHD+ touch (3200×1800

Generation Five (9350) — March 3, 2016

New features

  • 6th Generation Intel® Core™ (Skylake)
  • InfinityEdge™ display — FHD and QHD+ versions available
  • 16GB and 1TB

Generation Six (9360) —  October 04, 2016

New features

 

  • Ubuntu 16.04 LTS
  • 7th generation Intel® Core™ (Kaby lake)

Generation Seven (9370) — January 4, 2018

New features

  • Ubuntu 18.04 LTS (launched with 16.04 LTS upgraded to 18.04 in July 2018)
  • 8th generation Intel® Core™ (Kaby Lake R)

Generation Eight (9380) — January 23, 2019

New features

  • 9th generation Intel® Core™ (Wiskey lake)
  • 2TB
  • Camera moved to the top of the display

Generation Nine (7390) — August 21, 2019

New features

  • 10th Generation Intel® Core, 6 cores (Comet Lake)

 

 

 

Extra-credit reading

  • The best Linux gifts to buy in 2019 – ZDNet
  • Dell’s Newest XPS 13 Ubuntu Laptop Just Got 16 Additional Configurations – Forbes
  • Dell bets big on Ubuntu Linux laptops for developers – ZDNet
  • Dell XPS 13 7390 Review: The Best Laptop For Desktop Linux Users – Laptop Capri
  • Dell announces new Linux XPS 13 developer edition 7390 laptop – TechBuzz

 

Pau for now…

 

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Posted by Barton George

Project Sputnik: Want to join the cause?

December 18, 2019

Passionate about Linux? About Developers? We’ll have we got the opportunity for you. 😊

The Project Sputnik team is planning to beef up our efforts and we’re looking for a passionate soul to join the cause and help drive Dell’s line of developer laptops and workstations.

This individual would have an opportunity to handle community engagement, represent Dell at developer and open source events as well as shape the future of Dell’s Sputnik program. Live in Austin?  Even better!

Operators are standing by

If the above sounds exciting to you and you are diplomatic, intuitive, have a passion for coding and Linux please DM me at @barton808 on Twitter.  At this point we are gathering names of interested individuals and will reach back out in the new year.

Extra-credit reading

  • Dell Opens Up About Its Linux Efforts And Project Sputnik – Forbes

Pau for now…

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Posted by Barton George

XPS 13 developer edition portfolio up 8X in the States, 6 core and more!

October 31, 2019

At the beginning of last month, we announced the roll out of the first configurations of Dell’s latest XPS 13 developer edition.

Today, in honor of Halloween, we are excited to announce that we are increasing the number of configurations in the developer edition portfolio by a factor of eight.  In total, we now offer 18 different configurations of the 9th generation developer edition, 16 of which are available both online and offline.

If you venture offline you also get two bonus systems to choose from, one featuring a 1TB SSD and one that boasts an even beefier 2TB solid stated drive.  These offline offerings can be ordered via chat or phone (877-BUY-DELL).

 

All of these configurations come with Ubuntu 18.04 LTS preloaded and are powered by the Intel 10th Gen Core™ U series processors, over half of which are based on the i7 hexacore processor.

What’s also cool about today’s news is both the Linux and the Windows XPS 13 lines are being rounded out at the same time.  Linux has officially become a first among equals. 😉

Please see the complete list of configs for the US, Canada and Europe below.

7390 Specifications

For your reference here are key features of the 9th generation of the XPS 13 developer edition.

  • Processor Options
    • 10th Generation Intel® Core™ i5-10210U processor (4 cores)
    • 10th Generation Intel® Core™ i7-10710U processor (6 cores)
  • Ubuntu 18.04 LTS preloaded
  • Killer™ AX1650 (2×2) built on Intel WiFi 6 Chipset + Bluetooth 5.0
  • InfinityEdge display with top camera placement
  • FHD and UHD resolution support
  • Up to 16GB of LPDDR3 memory at 2133MHz

The XPS 13 developer edition lineup

The United States

US Online configurations

When you get to the XPS 13 developer edition product page you’ll notice that there is only “one” system displayed.  This is the base configuration which you can then configure to create 16 different options.

i7 – 6c | 16GB | 256SSD | FHD non touch

i7 – 6c | 16GB | 256SSD | UHD Touch

i7 – 6c | 16GB | 512SSD | FHD non touch

i7 – 6c | 16GB | 512SSD | UHD Touch

i7 – 6c | 8GB | 256SSD | FHD non touch

i7 – 6c | 8GB | 256SSD | UHD Touch

i7 – 6c | 8GB | 512SSD | FHD non touch

i7 – 6c | 8GB | 512SSD | UHD Touch

US Offline additional configurations

i7 – 6c | 16GB |1T SSD | UHD Touch

i7 – 6c | 16GB |2T SSD | UHD Touch

Canada – Online

i5 | 8GB | 256SSD | FHD NT

i7 – 6c | 16GB |1T SSD | UHD Touch

i7 – 6c | 16GB | 256SSD | FHD NT

i7 – 6c | 16GB | 512SSD | FHD NT

i7 – 6c | 16GB | 512SSD | UHD Touch

Europe – Online and Offline

i7 4 core | 16GB | 512SSD | FHD NT

i7 4 core | 16GB | 512SSD | FHD NT

i7 4 core | 16GB | 512SSD | UHD T

i7 4 core | 16GB | 512SSD | UHD T

i7 4 core | 16GB | 1T SSD  | UHD T

i7 4 core | 16GB | 1T SSD  | UHD T

 

Project Sputnik

The original XPS 13 developer edition from 2012

Nearly seven years ago the community-driven Project Sputnik went from skunk works project to official product.  The original “line up” consisted of only one system and one configuration.

The system, which represented the top of the line XPS 13 system came with Ubuntu 12.04 LTS-preloaded, was powered by a 1.6-GHz Intel Core i5-2467M processor and featured 8GB RAM and a 256GB SSD.

Fast forward to today and instead of a 1.6GHz i5 processor the top config of the 9th generation XPS 13 developer edition is based on Intel’s i7 six core processor, along with 16GB of RAM and a 2TB drive.  Who knows what specs and features will define the future generations to come of the XPS 13 developer edition.

Stay tuned and find out! 😊

Extra-credit reading

9th generation developer edition news

Podcasts

Articles and blog posts

 

  • Dell’s Newest XPS 13 Ubuntu Laptop Just Got 16 Additional Configurations – Forbes
  • Dell releases latest Linux developer laptop with Comet Lake CPU – ZDNet
  • Best Laptop for PC Users is Here: Dell XPS 13 Developer Edition – TFIR
  • Dell XPS 7390 Developer Edition with Intel Comet Lake and Ubuntu 18.04 LTS announced – FOSS Linux
  • Dell announces new Linux XPS 13 developer edition 7390 laptop | tww
  • Intel Introduces 10th Generation Comet Lake Y and U-Series Processors – cnx-software.com
  • New Dell XPS 13 Developer Edition Announced, Powered by Ubuntu – OmgUbuntu!
  • Dell XPS 13 Developer Edition with Ubuntu Linux, Intel Comet Lake coming in September – Liliputing
  • Dell XPS 13 (7390) Developer Edition laptop comes with Ubuntu Linux, Wi-Fi 6, and 10th Gen Intel Core CPU – BetaNews
  • Dell XPS 13 Developer Edition Announced with Ubuntu – debug point
  • Dell XPS 13 (7390) Developer Edition laptop comes with Ubuntu Linux, Wi-Fi 6, and 10th Gen Intel Core CPU – Angle News
  • Dell XPS 13 Developer Edition with Ubuntu Linux, Intel Comet Lake coming in September – Go Gadget News
  • Dell releases latest Linux developer laptop with Comet Lake CPU – The Gizmo Effect
  • Dell XPS 13 (7390) Developer Edition Powered by Ubuntu | Hurahu
  • Dell XPS 13 laptops get 10th-gen Intel Core chips – Liliputing
  • Dell releases latest Linux developer laptop with Comet Lake CPU – Technology latest news
  • Dell Announced the XPS 13 Developer Edition “7390”, Which Powered by 10th Generation | LinuxTechNews
  • The Bestest Laptop Computer – Thar She Blows! – Orcaflotta
  • Dell announces new Linux XPS 13 developer edition 7390 laptop – tech-tutorials.com
  • Nuevo Dell XPS 13 con Ubuntu a la vista » MuyLinux
  • Dell presenta una nueva XPS 13 con Ubuntu – Consejero Digital
  • Dell XPS 13 (7390) Developer Edition – Ubuntu i Comet Lake procesori | Lokator.Blog – Novosti kako ih Vi želite!
  • Dell XPS 7390 Developer Edition lançado com Ubuntu 18.04 LTS – edivaldobrito
  • Arriva il nuovo Dell XPS 13 developer edition (7390) – Aggregatore GNU/Linux e dintorni – laseroffice
  • Dell XPS 13 Developer Edition, 9ª generación, el próximo juguete de Dell – ubunlog

Pau for now…

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Posted by Barton George

The new Dell XPS 13 developer edition now available in the US, Europe and Canada

January 23, 2019

Last January the Dell XPS 13 developer edition (9370) made its debut.  Today we’re excited to announce that one year later its successor, the XPS 13 developer edition (9380), is now available in the US, Canada and Europe.  (Note: both the 9370 and 9380 will coexist for a period of time.)9380 xps 13 developer edition 3500x1924

Project Sputnik

The 9380 represents the eighth generation of Dell’s Ubuntu-based XPS 13 developer edition series.  The first generation of the developer edition debuted over six years ago and it, along with the Ubuntu-based Precision mobile workstations that launched in 2015, make up Project Sputnik.  In case you’re not familiar with it, Project Sputnik is Dell’s skunkworks initiative driven by input from the developer community (see the timeline at the end of the post for the complete XPS 13 developer edition progression).

Dell XPS 13 developer edition (9380) — System highlights

Although there are many great features and specs that characterize the latest developer edition (see below), the one that will likely bring the most joy is the new placement of the webcam.  In the 9370 the camera is located directly below the screen.  In the new 9380 the camera has been moved to the top, providing a much more flattering view of the user while still maintaining the system’s sleek, compact design.

Not only that but the 8th generation developer edition supports Suspend-to-idle natively which allows the system to resume much more quickly from sleep.

 9380 Specifications

  • Intel 8th generation i3, i5 and i7 processors (Intel Whiskey Lake U, 15W, non-vPro)
  • Ubuntu 18.04 LTS preloaded
  • InfinityEdge display with top camera placement
  • Easier to open
  • FHD and UHD resolution support
  • Up to 16GB of LPDDR3 memory at 2133MHz
  • 1 x NVMe slot for 2230-128GB / 2280 up to 2TB
  • Thunderbolt 3 (x2) with USB3.1 Gen2 + type-C x1 with USB3.1 Gen2 speed
  • Improved Thunderbolt runtime power management
  • Killer® 1435 802.11ac [2×2] + Bluetooth 4.2

The United States and Canada 

In the US and Canada there are four base configs that can be configured in a multitude of ways, yielding 22 configurations.  These base configs are:

  • i7 QC|8GB|256GB|FHD T
  • i7 QC|8GB|256GB|UHD T
  • i7 QC|16GB|512GB|UHD T
  • i7 QC|16GB|256GB|UHD T

(Note: unlike Europe, in the United States and Canada the developer edition can only be purchased in the “For Work” section.)

Europe

Beating the US and Canada to the punch, on January 9th the first configurations of the new XPS 13 developer edition became available in Europe.  At the end of last week two more joined to complete the lineup:

  • i7 QC|16GB|512GB|UHD T
  • i7 QC|16GB|1TB|UHD T
  • i7 QC|8GB|256GB|FHD NT
  • i7 QC|16GB|512GB|FHD NT

The above configurations are available in both the “For Home” and “For Work” sections on Dell.com and are available online in the following countries:

  • Austria
  • Belgium (Dutch and French)
  • Switzerland (German and French)
  • Germany
  • Denmark
  • Spain
  • France
  • Ireland
  • Italy
  • The Netherlands
  • Norway
  • Sweden
  • The United Kingdom <- The developer editions will be added to shortly to the 9380 product page.  Until then, the systems can be purchased via chat on the product page or by calling the number that pops up.

Stay tuned

Being able to announce the next generation of the XPS 13 developer edition is a great way to begin the year.  Watch this space to see what is next on the agenda for 2019.

XPS 13 developer edition timeline

2012

2013

2015

  • 4th gen Dell XPS 13 developer edition in US and Europe — April 9, 2015

2016

2018

Extra-credit reading

  • Exclusive: Dell Opens Up About Its Linux Efforts And Project Sputnik – Forbes
  • Dell Shipped Linux On 162 Unique Platforms In Fiscal Year 2019 – Forbes

 

Pau for now…

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Posted by Barton George

Sputnik turns 6! Presenting the folks behind it

November 29, 2018

Six years ago today the first Project Sputnik system appeared on dell.com.

It all started at the beginning of 2012 with a pitch to an internal innovation committee.  A month after the pitch, on the ides of March, the committee gave the go ahead for an exploratory project to test out the idea of a developer laptop.

The original XPS 13 developer edition

Thanks to the interest and support of the community, eight months later, the project became a product.

On November 29, 2012 the Dell XPS 13 developer edition was born.

 

It takes a village

Beyond the developer community, the reason why Project Sputnik is alive and thriving today is because of the support, both official and unofficial, from dozens of people across Dell.

These individuals have come from marketing, engineering, sales, finance, PR, operations… Here are some of the key contributors over the last six years

Xiao Liang, Wendy, Abby, Lihua, David, Zorro
Aidan
Amber Huang
Amit
Barton George
Brett
Cami Collins
Casey Downing
Chris D
Chris W
Clement
Damon
Derek
Eric
Erin
Frank
Geoff Dunlap
James Jones
Jared Dominguez
Jason
John
Jon
Johnathon Boyd
Juan Martinez
Justin X
Kerry
Lester
Luke Presley
Mano
Mario
Matt
Melissa
Munira
Ray
Ryan
Peter
Sandra
Sarah
Theresa Thomas
Justin Cowan
Eoin
Lauren
Marek
Meg (Mei Kuen, Tusi)
Michal
Patrick Griffin
Randall
Shawn Burton

From then to now

With help from the folks above, Project Sputnik has continued to evolve.

The XPS 13 developer edition, which debuted with only one config and Ubuntu 12.04 LTS, is now in its 7th generation, comes with Ubuntu 18.04 and boasts multiple configurations.  Along the way the project also expanded when the Linux-based mobile Precision workstation line joined the effort.

This year was a particularly busy one for the project with new versions of all five Sputnik platforms launching:

Thanks

Thanks once again to the community and everyone within Dell who has driven Project Sputnik from idea, to product, to product line.

Stay tuned and see where we go next!

 

Project Sputnik timeline

2012

  • Project Sputnik announced — May 7, 2012
  • Project Sputnik to go from Pilot to Product — July 18, 2012
  • 1st gen Dell XPS 13 developer edition in the US — November 29, 2012

2013

  • 2nd gen developer edition in US and Europe — February 18, 2013
  • 3rd gen developer edition in US along with instructions on getting Ubuntu up and running on a Precision 3800 mobile workstation — November 15, 2013
  • 3rd gen developer edition in US and Europe — December 20, 2013 

2015

  • Dell Precision M3800 mobile workstation joins Project Sputnik  — January 27, 2015
  • 4th gen Dell XPS 13 developer edition in US and Europe — April 9, 2015

2016

  • 5th gen XPS 13 Developer Edition in US, Ubuntu-based Workstations (5510, 3510, 7510, 7720) available worldwide — March 3, 2016
  • 5th gen XPS 13 developer edition in Europe — March 31, 2016
  • 6th gen XPS 13 Developer Edition in Europe and US — October 04, 2016

2017

  • Next gen Ubuntu-based Precision line-up announced, 5520 and 3520 available — January 9, 2017
  • Precision 7520 and 7720 available — March 18, 2017
  • Precision All-in-One available – April 18

2018

  • 7th gen XPS 13 Developer Edition in Europe and US – January 4
  • Next gen Precision line announced, 3530 available – March 24
  • Precision 7530 and 7730 available – July 2
  • XPS 13 developer edition upgrades to 18.04 – July 27
  • Precision 5530 available – August 31

(For a detailed project history please see last year’s 5th anniversary blog)

Extra-credit reading: news and reviews

Overall program

  • An update from Dell’s Barton George on their Linux initiative Sputnik – Linux Unplugged (starts at 40min)

XPS 13 developer edition

 

Precision xx30 developer edition line

  • Dell Precision 5530 with Ubuntu Review – Linux Unplugged (review starts at ~36min and goes to ~52min)
  • Dell Precision 5530, Ubuntu Pre-Installed – This Week in Linux  (13:44)
  • Dell Unveils New Ubuntu Laptops — OMG!UBUNTU!
  • Dell Precision ‘Developer Edition’ mobile workstations run Ubuntu Linux and are RHEL certified – betanews
  • Dell refreshes Precision laptops with Ubuntu Linux pre-installed – ZDnet
  • Dell stuffs Intel Coffee Lake CPUs and Ubuntu into latest Precision workstations – The Inquirer
  • Dell launches new Precision mobile workstation line-up powered by Ubuntu – Softpedia
  • Dell Precision 5530 sale a la venta con Ubuntu y certificado para RHEL » MuyLinux
  • Welcome the new Dell Precision developer editions – Barton’s blog
  • Developer Editions of Precision Workstations Now Available — Direct2DellEMC
  • Introducing the Dell Precision 7530 and 7730 with Ubuntu — Ubuntu blog
  • Precision Developer Editions 7530/7730 now online — Welcome the power pair – Barton’s blog

Pau for now…

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Posted by Barton George

Welcome the new Dell Precision developer editions! Gen 3 of the beefy line up

May 24, 2018

Project Sputnik keeps rolling on!

Today I’m proud to announce the new the Linux-based Dell Precision Mobile workstation line: the 3530, 5530, 7530 and the 7730.  These systems, which represent the fourth generation of the Precision developer editions, come preloaded with Ubuntu and have been RHEL certified.

These new thinner, lighter, premium-built Precision mobile workstations feature the latest Intel Core and Xeon processors, blazing-fast memory and professional graphics.

The new Precision 3530

Available today 

Coming soon

  • Dell Precision 5530 Mobile Workstation, developer edition
  • Dell Precision 7530 Mobile Workstation, developer edition
  • Dell Precision 7730 Mobile Workstation, developer edition

A double click on the specs

Dell Precision 3530 Mobile Workstation, developer edition

15-inch fully customizable and high-performance mobile workstation at an entry-level price point

  • 8th Gen Intel® Core™ and next-generation Xeon® processors
  • Memory speeds up to 2666MHz up to 32GB
  • PCIe storage capacity up to 2TB
  • NVIDIA Quadro® P600 professional graphics cards with 4GB of memory
  • Support for 4K video to an external monitor at 60fps via HDMI 2.0
  • Ports include HDMI 2.0, Thunderbolt and VGA
  • Ubuntu 16.04 LTS preinstalled
  • RHEL 7.5 certified (details below)
  • Available worldwide

Dell Precision 5530 Mobile Workstation, developer edition

Dell’s thinnest, lightest and smallest 15″ mobile workstation with enhanced graphics, and a stunning design and display

  • Available in Platinum Silver or Brushed Onyx, with a 15.6-inch display fit into a 14-inch chassis.
  • Next-gen graphics up to NVIDIA® Quadro P2000.
  • 8th Gen Intel® Core™ and next-generation Xeon® processors
  • Enhanced 2666MHz memory speeds up to 32GB
  • Up to 4TB of SSD storage
  • USB Type C with x4 PCIe, Thunderbolt™ and HDMI 2.0 ports
  • Ubuntu 16.04 LTS preinstalled
  • RHEL 7.5 certified (details below)
  • Available worldwide

Dell Precision 7530 Mobile Workstation, developer edition

The world’s most powerful 15″ mobile workstation, redesigned to be thinner, lighter

  • 8th Gen Intel® Core™ and Xeon® processors
  • AMD Radeon WX and NVIDIA Quadro® professional graphics
  • Largest & fastest memory on the market for mobile workstations up to 128GB of system memory &  SuperSpeed memory of 3200MHz
  • Largest PCIe SSD storage capacity available for a 15-inch mobile workstation: up to 6TB
  • Single cable docking and Thunderbolt™ 3 connectivity
  • Ubuntu 16.04 LTS preinstalled
  • RHEL 7.5 certified (details below)
  • Available worldwide

Dell Precision 7730 Mobile Workstation, developer edition

The world’s most powerful 17″ mobile workstation, redesigned to be thinner, lighter 

  • 8th Gen Intel® Core™ and Xeon® processors
  • AMD Radeon WX and NVIDIA Quadro® professional graphics
  • Largest & fastest memory on the market for mobile workstations up to 128GB of system memory &  SuperSpeed memory of 3200MHz
  • Largest storage capacity available for a mobile workstation (up to 8TB)
  • Single cable docking and Thunderbolt™ 3 connectivity
  • Ubuntu 16.04 LTS preinstalled
  • RHEL 7.5 certified (details below)
  • Available worldwide

RHEL 7.5 certification and drivers

As mentioned above, all four developer editions will be certified for RHEL 7.5 and the needed drivers will be included in the distro.  That being said, the AMD and NVIDIA drivers that come with 7.5 are inbox drivers.  We will be posting drivers for both graphic cards that will include professional features not included in the inbox drivers.  Stay tuned!

How did we get here?

Project Sputnik launched at the end of 2012 with the svelte XPS 13 developer edition.  While this fit the bill for a lot of folks, there was a set of folks who needed something beefier.  The demand stayed steady so Sputnik team member Jared Dominguez decided to take it upon himself to get Ubuntu up and running on the Precision M3800.

Jared hammock hacking

From this he created step-by-step instructions and posted them to Dell Tech Center for community members to follow.

While customers were excited to be able get Ubuntu going on their systems, they wanted more.  Given this sustained demand, in early in 2015 the M3800 developer edition became an official product.

In Spring of the following year our Linux-based Precision offering went from one system to four and the 5510, 3510, 7510 and 7710 developer editions debuted.  Last year this line was revved and the next gen, the 5520, 3520, 7520, 7720 were announced along with the addition of the Precision 5720 All-in-One.  And today… (see above)

Stay tuned

Watch this space for the upcoming availability of the Dell Precision 5530, 7530 and 7730 developer editions as well as the AMD and NVIDIA graphics drivers for RHEL 7.5 .

Extra-credit reading

The History of the Ubuntu-based Dell Precision mobile workstation line

  • November 15, 2013 — Instructions posted to get Ubuntu up and running on a Precision M3800 mobile workstation
  • January 27, 2015 — Precision M3800 officially joins Project Sputnik
  • March 3, 2016 — Ubuntu-based Precision line 5510, 3510, 7510, 7710 announced
  • January 9, 2017 — Next gen Ubuntu-based Precision line-up announced, 5520 and 3520 available
  • March 18, 2017 — Precision 7520 and 7720 available
  • April 18, 2017 — Precision 5720 All-in-One available

Pau for now…

52 Comments | Uncategorized | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Barton George

XPS 13 Developer Edition — the 7th gen is here!

January 4, 2018

-> Updated June 22, 2018 – Three 16GB/FHD configs added to the line up in the US

-> Updated Jan 26, 2018 – Added list of countries that offer the XPS 13 developer edition offline.

Today I am excited to announce the availability of the 7th generation of the Ubuntu-based XPS 13 developer edition.  Project Sputnik’s latest and greatest system is now simultaneously available in Europe, Canada and the United States.

The new XPS 13 developer edition (9370) features the 8th Generation Intel Quad Core, a brand new chassis, an improved display and smaller borders.

The 9370 is even thinner, lighter and smaller than its already svelte predecessor, the 9360. (Note, the 9370 does not replace the 9360, as the two will coexist.)  If you want more detailed specs, please scroll down dear reader. Before we get to the product details however, here’s a quick Project Sputnik backgrounder.

Project Sputnik, a recap

It all started back in 2012 with the wacky idea of creating a high-end Linux laptop targeted at developers.   An internal innovation fund gave the scrappy project team a little bit of money and six months to see if this idea would fly.

From day one, project Sputnik publically solicited input from the developer community.  It was this input and the tremendous community support that pushed the effort from project to a product.

The initial XPS 13 developer edition, available only as one configuration, debuted on November 29, 2012.  Fast forward five years and not only are we announcing the 7th generation of that initial product but the project itself has now expanded to become a full line of developer-targeted systems.

US and Canadian configurations

In North America, as mentioned above, the new XPS 13 developer edition is available in both the US and Canada.  The following are the available configurations in the two countries (Note: the links below point to the US configurations).

CPU | Memory | Storage | Display

Available as of April 3, 2018

European configurations

The new XPS 13 developer edition is available online in Europe in the following countries:

Online: UK, Ireland, Germany, Austria, France, Italy, Spain, Switzerland (French and German), Belgium, Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, Denmark.

In the following countries you can get a hold of the XPS 13 developer edition offline (phone or chat):

Offline: Czech Republic, Denmark, Emerging countries , Finland, Greece , Luxembourg, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Slovakia, Turkey, South Africa.

The following configurations are available both online and offline.

CPU | Memory | Storage | Display

  • i7 | 16GB |      1TB | UHD touch (3840 x 2160)
  • i7 | 16GB | 512GB | UHD touch (3840 x 2160)
  • i7 | 16GB | 512GB | FHD non-touch (1920 x 1080)
  • i7 |  8GB | 256GB | FHD non-touch (1920 x 1080)

9370 Specifications

Here’s a bit more detail behind the system specs.  These options are available as noted above.

  • 8th Generation Intel® Quad Core™, i5 (US and Canada only) and i7 versions
  • Memory options: 4GB, 8GB or 16GB Dual Channel SDRAM
  • Storage options: 128GB, 256GB, 512GB or 1TB
  • Ports
    • 2x Thunderbolt™ 3
    • Noble lock slot
    • Headset jack
    • DC-In & DisplayPort 1x USB-C 3.1
    • MicroSD card reader
  • Display options
    • UltraSharp 4K Ultra HD (3840×2160) InfinityEdge touch display
    • FHD (1920 x 1080) InfinityEdge display
  • Ubuntu 16.04 LTS preloaded
  • 1 year ProSupport

Who’d a thunk it

I gotta admit that five years ago the team and I would never have thought that we would be posting a blog announcing the 7th generation of the XPS 13 developer edition.  The thought of even a third generation would have bogled our minds.

Five years ago, thanks to the support of the community, Project Sputnik reached escape velocity.  This support, input and direction has not only continued but has grown over the last five years, enabling the Sputnik team to stop focusing on survival and instead focus on supporting a broader range of developer needs.

As we go forward, please keep driving us by sharing your input and experiences, be they be good, bad or ugly. 🙂

Thanks!

Barton

Extra-credit reading

  • 2018 starts with the best Linux laptop by Dell – Swap and I discuss the new system – VIDEO
  • Meet the New XPS 13: Stylish, Powerful and Better by Every Measure – Direct2Dell
  • Line up — New XPS 13 developer edition —  (9370)
  • Line up — XPS 13 developer edition — (9360)
  • Project Sputnik Turns Five! – November 29, 2017
  • 2012 — year one

Pau for now…

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Posted by Barton George

Open Source Summit videos – Sputnik, Bitnami, ARM and OpenShift

October 24, 2017

Last month I attend Open Source Summit (OSS) North America which was held in Los Angeles from September 11- 14.

This year the Linux Foundation brought four conferences under the umbrella name,  “The Open Source Summit” (OSS).  The four conferences were LinuxCon, ContainerCon, CloudOpen plus the new “Open Community Conference.”

Interviewing and being Interviewed

While at the conference, besides giving away an Ubuntu-based XPS 13 developer edition aka “project Sputnik,” I found myself on both sides of the camera.  I was interviewed by Swapnil Bhartiya around the history of Project Sputnik and I in turn interviewed representatives of ARM, Red Hat’s OpenShift, and Bitnami’s Kubernetes effort.

Enjoy!

Project Sputnik

Here I am holding forth with regards to the origins and ideas behind Project Sputnik, our line of Linux-based developer systems.

 

Bitnami and Kubeless

  • Sebastian Goasguen’s Kubernetes-focused company SkipBox was recently acquired by Bitnami – the name comes from “(Skip)per” like Kubernetes and Tool(box) — which helps onboard people to Kubernetes.
  • Bitnami acquired SkipBox as a way to get into the Kubernetes space.  SkipBox’s key offering was “Kubeless,” a Kubernetes-native serverless framework which helps people move from Physical machines/VMs/cloud to containers and then to Kubernetes.

 

ARM’s development platform

  • Julio Suarez of ARM walks us through their demo at the Open Source summit.  The team was demoing their server enterprise development platform “Mali.”  Unlike Raspberry Pi, Mali is pretty beefy with 10GB Ethernet ports, SATA, PCI etc.
  • The platforms are clustered into a group of three using Docker Swarm (could also use Kubernetes, Marathon Mesos).  The swarm is running an ecommerce website, ported to ARM from x86.  The website is composed of 14 microservices.

 

Red Hat’s OpenShift

  • Harish Pillay talks about Red Hat’s Container as a Service offering, OpenShift.  While OpenShift began life with its own version of containers, they have pivoted to employ industry standard containers and Kubernetes.
  • Different pieces and technology can be swapped in and out as long as they are written to standards.

Conference reflections

Given the continued growth in the number of Linux Foundation projects and the number of sub events, the attendance of little over 1,900, albeit from 37 different countries, seemed a bit light.  Additionally the show floor seemed sparse compared to past.

I’m guessing that high level Open Source events don’t have the allure they once did, particularly since open source is a given in most environments today.  In turn, people are seeking out more targeted events around specific technologies eg DockerCon, KubeCon.  All that said it was a valuable conference thanks to the always interesting hallway track.

Dell EMC’s presence

I would be remiss if I didn’t at least mention my employer’s presence at the summit.

Dell EMC was represented by the rebranded “{code}” team who now represents the open source efforts across Dell Technologies.  While {code}’s press release introduced their new name and remit, the news they led with concerned REX-Ray:

REX-Ray, an established open source container orchestration engine that enables persistence for cloud-native workloads, now includes plugins for 15 storage integrations, with the addition of NFS, local block services and VFS, immediately making those storage platforms CSI-compatible.

Extra-credit reading

  • Open Source guides:  At the event the Linux foundation introduced a set of succinct Open Source guides targeted at enterprises to help
    • guide their use of and contribution to open source software and communities
    • explain the value of open source to management
    • formalize and organize their existing open source efforts
  • Videos: The keynote sessions were recorded and are available to watch.
  • Event Photos: To view a selection of photos from the events visit the Linux Foundation’s website.

Pau for now…

 

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Posted by Barton George

Ubuntu-based All-in-One joins the brawn brothers

April 18, 2017

Today we are happy to announce, that the Dell Precision 5720, a 27” All-in-One workstation class machine is available for purchase.  The system can be ordered preloaded with either Ubuntu 16.04, RHEL 7.3 or Windows 10.

What were they thinking

When the team designed the 5720, they focused on the front of screen experience with the 27” 4K UHD display, support for multiple displays out, and an integrated high-end sound bar that delivers best in class audio in an AIO, no need for added speakers.

Also supported are the latest generation Intel CPUs, including an option for Xeon CPUs, as well as the latest AMD Radeon Pro professional graphics.

The Precision line roll out

The availability of the 5270 marks the last of the Ubuntu-based Precision mobile workstations announced back in January.  In January, the Precision 5520, the world’s thinnest and lightest 15” mobile workstation and Precision 3520, an affordable and fully customizable 15” mobile workstation were available for purchase.  Under the heading, “coming soon,” were the 7720 the 7520 and, new to the lineup, the 5720 All-in-One.

Two weeks ago the world’s most powerful 15″ and 17″ laptops, the Precision 7520, and the Precision 7720 became available.  These two brawny brothers debuted in two flavors, Ubuntu and Windows (drivers are also available for RHEL 7.3).

A look at the Precision line thanks to LAS

The week before last, Chris Fisher and Noah Chelliah of the Linux Action Show made their way from the Pacific Northwest to Dell.  Besides recording LAS on site, Chris and Noah conducted a bunch of interviews.  The episode above is the first of two.  In this episode you not only get to learn about Dell’s Linux-powered coffee machine but you get an overview of the Precision line of systems.

The Dell segment starts at 35:36 and the overview of the Precision line, starting with the new 5720 All-in-One, begins at 37:20.  When you get to the part about the 7720, which starts at around $1,699, you’ll learn what you get if you decide to drop $10K and max it out.

[If you’re interested, here’s second LAS — Dell’s Secret Sauce | Linux Action Show 465]

How to get the Ubuntu or RHEL flavors

To get the preloaded Ubuntu or RHEL versions of the 5720, simply head to the landing page. Once there, click on the green “Customize & Buy” button on the right.  This will take you to the “Select Components” page where under “Operating System” you can choose either Ubuntu 16.04, RHEL 7.3 or Windows and away you go!

Extra-credit reading

  • Order here: The Dell Precision 5720, 27” All-in-One workstation class machine
  • Dell’s Secret Sauce | Linux Action Show 465
  • Dell Precision 5520 is a beauty and a beast, This the best laptop for Linux power users — CIO
  • Dell Launches World’s Most Powerful 15″ and 17″ Laptops Powered by Ubuntu Linux – Softpedia
  • Dell lancia cinque nuovi sistemi Linux — Techninja
  • Five new systems join Dell XPS 13 Developer Edition that come with Ubuntu pre-installed — Linux Magazine
  • Dell doubles down on high-end Ubuntu Linux laptops – ZDnet
  • Why Dell’s gamble on Linux laptops has paid off –  TechRadar
  • Dell lanza nuevo Precision con Ubuntu y no será el único – SYSGURU
  • PODCAST: Jan-17-2017, Dell Linux Hardware w/Barton George – The Lunduke Hour
  • PODCAST: Project Sputnik Interview | LINUX Unplugged 179
  • Welcome the new Ubuntu-based Precision line-up – Ubuntu insights
  • Dell’s new Precision mobile workstation PCs available with Ubuntu or Windows – Liliputing
  • Dell lanza nuevo Precision con Ubuntu y no será el único – muylinux

Pau for now…

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Posted by Barton George

Dell at DockerCon — Config guides, developer laptops, plugins and more

June 29, 2016

Today you would have to be under an IT rock if you haven’t at least heard of containers.  Containers, which have recently been made easily usable by a wide audience, allow applications to flow in a uniform package from development, to test, to production.  Containers also allow applications to be moved between public and private clouds as well as bare metal environments.  All of this increases agility and reduces friction in the overall development to deployment cycle, increasing the speed that organizations can deliver services to customers.

The 800 pound gorilla in the space is Docker which makes the most widely used container format and is building out additional offerings in the greater container ecosystem.

DockerCon

Last week in Seattle Docker held DockerCon 2016, its fourth conference promoting the general container ecosystem.  The event featured dozens of participating companies as well as a plethora of talks.  There was a ton of energy and the event even included a “full on kitty laser death match” on the main stage:

Laser cats

I attended the show and while there I attended sessions, conducted a bunch of interviews (see below) and spent time working at the Dell booth supporting Dell’s presence.

Dell Booth

At our booth we showed off four major offerings/projects in the Docker and container DockerCon Dell boothspace (here’s a video I did giving a brief overview what we were featuring).

We showed:

 

  • BlueData configuration guide:  BlueData’s platform provides customers with Big Data as a service, giving them the ability to leverage one pool of storage across multiple versions and distributions of big data tools.  The platform leverages Docker to deliver bare-metal performance with the flexibility of virtualization.  The configuration guide details the configuration set-up for BlueData’s Big-Data-as-a-Service (BDaaS) platform on Dell’s PowerEdge Servers.
  • Developer laptops: In the booth we showed off our line of Ubuntu-based developer laptops (Project Sputnik). These Linux-based systems provide a native platform for Docker-based development and allows developers to push their container-based apps to the cloud.  On the second day we gave away a “Sputnik” laptop (see below for the crowd on hand for the drawing).
  • Flocker plugin: This plugin allows ClusterHQ’s Flocker to integrate with the Dell Storage SC Series. This allows developer and operations teams to use existing storage to create portable container-level storage for Docker.
  • Docker Swarm plugin: This plugin, which is in the proof of concept phase, connects Docker Swarm with Dell’s next gen networking operating system, OS10.  The plugin automates configuration of vlan & routers for Docker’s Macvlan/Ipvlan driver orchestrated using Docker Swarm.

All in all a great show, helping to raise Dell’s presence in the space and providing us with greater insight into customer needs and the ecosystem evolution.

Waiting in front of the Dell booth for the Sputnik drawing

Waiting in front of the Dell booth for the Sputnik drawing

Video interviews:

 

Extra-credit reading

Pau for now…

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Posted by Barton George

Live in Europe: Next gen XPS 13 developer edition

March 31, 2016

[Update — April 8: Offline country URLs added]

A couple of weeks ago we announced the worldwide release of the Ubuntu-based mobile Precision mobile line as well and the US availability of the next gen XPS 13 developer edition.

Today I’m happy to announce that the Skylake-based XPS 13 developer edition is now available in Europe!

Background: As you may remember, as a 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.

Next gen XPS 13 developer edition specsDino

  • 6thGeneration Intel® Core™Processors
  • Preloaded with Ubuntu 14.04 LTS
  • Augmented with the necessary hardware drivers, tools and utilities
  • InfinityEdge™ display, FHD and QHD+ versions available

Configurations

The following configurations will be available both online and offline in Europe.  All of three of the XPS 13 developer edition configurations come with the Intel wireless card.

  • i5/8GB: 256GB, FHD, Intel 8260
  • i7/8GB: 256GB, QHD+T, Intel 8260
  • i7/16GB 512GB, QHD+T, Intel 8260

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.)

Where to order your system

The following, URLs will take you to the product pages for the developer edition in the various countries.  The countries listed below will offer the XPS 13 online.

There is a second group of nations where the developer edition is available by contacting your local Dell representative.  We will be adding that list, along with URLs, in the next couple of days. – Update: added April 8

Available online

United Kingdom www.dell.co.uk/XPS13DeveloperEdition

Ireland www.dell.ie/XPS13DeveloperEdition
Germany www.dell.de/XPS13DeveloperEdition
Austria www.dell.at/XPS13DeveloperEdition
France www.dell.fr/XPS13DeveloperEdition
Italy www.dell.it/XPS13DeveloperEdition
Spain www.dell.es/XPS13DeveloperEdition
Switzerland (German) www.dell.ch/XPS13DeveloperEdition
Switzerland (French)  www.dell.ch/fr/XPS13DeveloperEdition
The Netherlands www.dell.nl/XPS13DeveloperEdition
Belgium (Dutch) www.dell.be/XPS13DeveloperEdition
Belgium (French) www.dell.be/fr/XPS13DeveloperEdition
Denmark www.dell.dk/XPS13DeveloperEdition
Norway www.dell.no/XPS13DeveloperEdition
Sweden www.dell.se/XPS13DeveloperEdition

Available offline

Estonia http://www.dell.com/ee/XPS13DeveloperEdition

Ghana http://www.dell.com/gh/XPS13DeveloperEdition

Croatia http://www.dell.com/hr/XPS13DeveloperEdition

Israel http://www.dell.com/il/en/XPS13DeveloperEdition

Iceland http://www.dell.com/is/XPS13DeveloperEdition

Finland http://www.dell.com/fi/XPS13DeveloperEdition

Lithuania http://www.dell.com/lt/XPS13DeveloperEdition

Latvia http://www.dell.com/lv/XPS13DeveloperEdition

Libya http://www.dell.com/ly/XPS13DeveloperEdition

Nigeria http://www.dell.com/ng/XPS13DeveloperEdition

Slovenia http://www.dell.com/si/XPS13DeveloperEdition

South Africa http://www.dell.com/za/XPS13DeveloperEdition

Democratic Republic of the Congo http://www.dell.com/cd/XPS13DeveloperEdition

Congo http://www.dell.com/cg/XPS13DeveloperEdition

Algeria http://www.dell.com/dz/XPS13DeveloperEdition

Ivory Coast http://www.dell.com/ed/fr/XPS13DeveloperEdition

Gabon http://www.dell.com/ga/XPS13DeveloperEdition

Moroccο http://www.dell.com/ma/XPS13DeveloperEdition

Senegal http://www.dell.com/sn/XPS13DeveloperEdition

Tunisia http://www.dell.com/tn/XPS13DeveloperEdition

Bahrain (Arabic) http://www.dell.com/ae/ar/XPS13DeveloperEdition

Morocco (Arabic) http://www.dell.com/ma/ar/XPS13DeveloperEdition

Tunisia http://www.dell.com/tn/ar/XPS13DeveloperEdition

Algeria http://www.dell.com/dz/ar/XPS13DeveloperEdition

Russia http://www.dell.com/ru/XPS13DeveloperEdition

Belarus http://www.dell.com/rs/XPS13DeveloperEdition

Ukraine http://www.dell.com/ua/XPS13DeveloperEdition

Czech http://www.dell.com/cz/XPS13DeveloperEdition

Greece http://www.dell.com/gr/XPS13DeveloperEdition

Hungry http://www.dell.com/hu/XPS13DeveloperEdition

Israel http://www.dell.com/il/XPS13DeveloperEdition

Portuguese http://www.dell.com/pt/XPS13DeveloperEdition

Romania http://www.dell.com/ro/XPS13DeveloperEdition

Slovakia http://www.dell.com/sk/XPS13DeveloperEdition

Turkey http://www.dell.com/tr/XPS13DeveloperEdition

 

Thanks!

The entire Sputnik team would like to thank everyone in Europe for both their patience and support!  Happy hacking!

Extra-Credit reading

Pau for now

 

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Posted by Barton George

XPS 13 Developer Edition launches in US, Ubuntu-based Workstations available worldwide

March 10, 2016

[ 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 editionDino

  • 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

  • 256GB, QHD+T, Intel 8260

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

22029-smb-laptop-precision-5510t-262x157The 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 SputnikScientist2ago.  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 platformSputnik+Docker
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

 

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Posted by Barton George

Touchpad Palm Detection – the “confidence” feature

October 5, 2015

More info from the tech team:

The XPS 13 9343 utilizes the Microsoft Precision Touchpad specification in I2C mode. The specific feature within the Microsoft Precision Touchpad specification is the “Confidence” feature:

Confidence

Confidence is used to indicate that the contact does not have any dimensions (height or width) > 25mm that implies that it is not an unintended contact. Windows Precision Touchpads should not reject any contacts in firmware processing, but should forward all contacts to the host and indicate the confidence. After a device has deemed a contact to be unintentional, it shall clear the confidence bit for that contact report and all subsequent reports. Until a contact has been deemed unintentional, the device shall set the confidence bit for that contact being reported.

With that feature correctly implemented, palm rejection in I2C mode should work.

Driver feature development is something we work with our vendors on ensuring they develop, though in this case they won’t since the Microsoft Precision Touchpad specification is a feature that falls outside of vendor-specific needs. Synaptics (or any other touchpad vendor) is unlikely to implement this feature in the Linux i2c_hid driver because it’s not vendor-specific but instead a Microsoft specification.

Microsoft Precision Touchpad specification:

https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/hardware/dn467314%28v=vs.85%29.aspx

HTH

Pau for now…

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Posted by Barton George

HackDFW and the project Sputnik story

March 10, 2015

[Notice: Previously I mistakenly noted that this event was hosted by MLH when, while it was part of the MLH season, was the result of the hard work and effort by a team of students from UTD, SMU, and UNT.]

Last week I attended HackDFW, a student hackathon in Dallas put on by  an intrepid group of local students from UTD, SMU, and UNT.   The hackapalooza, which was part of the Major League Hacking season, was a 24-hour event featuring students from around the country.  Besides getting to go around and talk to the students during the event I was fortunate enough to be asked to give the closing keynote.

I presented on Project Sputnik and how we crowd-sourced the development of a developer laptop.  Here are the slides I presented.

The Judges and Winner

After the preliminary judging, seven teams presented to impressive panel of judges with included, among others, Mark Cuban, the CEO of American Airlines and the Mayor of Dallas.

The winning team used Oculus Rift which connected to engine that rendered an ever evolving world of dinosaurs.   This would allow students to get a feel for the enormity of the dinosaurs and watch them as they grew and die from disease and predators

Here a few pics from the event.

Looking down on one of the groups

Looking down on one of the groups

 

Hackers and Hammocks

Hackers and Hammocks

Taking a "short" nap

Taking a “short” nap

Extra-credit reading

Pau for now…

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Posted by Barton George

Update: Dell XPS 13 laptop, developer edition – Sputnik Gen 4

February 5, 2015

We have been getting a ton of questions around the 4th generation Sputnik (XPS13 Sputnik_Sticker_Finallaptop, developer edition) and when it will be available.  As you may have seen, last week at Sundance we broke the news of our brand new Dell Precision M3800, developer edition pre-loaded with Ubuntu.

The XPS 13 isn’t far behind. We’re getting close and will have more to share soon but ultimately are spending time making sure everything works to provide the best customer experience possible.  A word of caution, if you purchase the Windows version of the new XPS 13 and try to load Ubuntu on it you will run into a few issues that we are currently addressing.

Please realize this DOES NOT AFFECT the Windows version of the XPS 13 laptop that recently launched.

Stay tuned for more updates soon.

The Reviews are in

XPS 13:  For your reference here are just a handful of awesome reviews that the Windows version of the recently launched XPS 13 laptop has garnered.  (The developer edition is based off this.)

  • Dell’s New XPS 13 Laptop Makes Me Seriously Regret My MacBook Air Purchase – Forbes
  • The MacBook Air Meets its Match – Wall Street Journal
  • Stunning screen, compact design make XPS 13 the first great laptop of 2015 – CNET
  • Dell’s Gorgeous New Windows Laptop Has An Amazing Screen And Is Cheaper Than The MacBook Air – Business Insider
  • Dell puts Apple’s MacBook Air on notice at CES – FOX News
  • Dell XPS 13 Boasts Thinnest Screen Bezel Ever – LAPTOP Mag
  • Dell’s New XPS 13 Sounds Like The Laptop Of My Dreams – Gizmodo

M3800 developer edition: Also for your reference, here is a bit of the press coverage the M3800  developer edition received

Extra-credit reading

 

Pau for now…

 

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Welcome the Dell Precision M3800 mobile workstation, developer edition

January 27, 2015

Update March 17:  Great  review in Network World — Review: Dell’s Ubuntu-powered M3800 Mobile Workstation is a desktop destroyer

Since the planning stages of project Sputnik over two years ago we wanted to offer two versions of our developer-focused systems.  The idea was to have both an ultra mobile laptop and a beefier workstation offering, a beauty and the beast line up if you will.  Due to the need to focus our resources however, we worked with the community to first build out the laptop, delivering the XPS 13 laptop, developer edition.Soyuz

Moving towards the beast

The first year after launching the XPS 13, we got a steady stream of requests for a bigger system.  This wasn’t lost on team member Jared Dominguez who decided to work on his own time with the Dell Precision M3800 mobile edition and put together instructions on how get Ubuntu running on the system.

A little over a year ago with the launch of the 3rd generation of the XPS13 developer edition we also announced its “unofficial big brother” and provided Jared’s instructions.  We received a lot of great feedback but there were also folks asking when we were going to deliver an officially supported version of the M3800.  What we told the community was — like the initial project Sputnik offering, if we got enough positive feedback — we might be able to offer it as an official pre-installed system.

A thread was started on the Sputnik Forum for people to express their interest in an official system.  We got a tremendous amount of positive feedback and as a result we listened to our customers and have added the M3800 to our developer edition lineup of Ubuntu-based systems.

Introducing the Dell Precision M3800 mobile workstation, Developer Edition

One of the main features people were looking for in the Precision M3800 was 16 GB of RAM.  The new Ubuntu-based M3800 introduced today, has that and a whole lot more:

Dell Precision M3800 mobile workstation, dev edition – Key features

  • Preloaded Ubuntu 14.04 LTS
  • Next generation of the world’s thinnest and lightest true 15-inch mobile workstation
  • Starting weight of just 4.15lbs (1.88kg) and a form factor that is less than 0.71 inches (18mm) thick
  • Fourth generation Intel Core i7 quad-core processor, professional grade NVIDIA Quadro K1100M graphics, and up to 16GB of memory
  • 4K Ultra HD (3840×2160) screen option
  • Availability: worldwide

Unfortunately, one of the features that wont be available right out of the gate is thunderbolt support.  As Jared explains in his blog:

Because our factory Ubuntu installs only ship Ubuntu LTS releases, we were not able to ship with Thunderbolt support. However, thanks to the hardware-enablement stack in Ubuntu, starting with upcoming Ubuntu 14.04.2, you will be able to upgrade your kernel to add some Thunderbolt support. We plan to be working with Canonical to recertify the Precision M3800 with official Thunderbolt support.

How do I get one

You can get to the M3800 developer edition by going to the Dell Precision M3800 Mobile Workstation page: www.dell.com/create and choosing the system labeled “Fully Customizable” on the far left.  Or you can go directly to configurator, where under “Operating System” you can select Ubuntu 14.04 SP1 and away you go!

M3800Menu

What about the additional software?

This time around we went with the vanilla image of the most recent LTS release (14.04).  A vanilla image was actually one of the top requests when we gathered input on our initial Storm session.

Since the original launch we have been working on a profile tool and Cloud launcher.  We are still working on these but it’s been a bit more difficult than we originally thought :).  Stay tuned for more news on this.

Will there be a new XPS 13 developer edition?

You bet!  The 4th generation of the XPS 13 laptop, developer edition will be available soon.  It will based on the the new XPS 13 laptop that debuted earlier this month.

A Big Thanks

Thanks to everyone in the community for the tremendous support of the Sputnik program.  Without your support, this program would not be possible!

 Extra-credit reading

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Posted by Barton George

Installing Debian 8 on a Dell XPS 13 Developer Edition

January 3, 2015

Over the break, Eric Mill put together great step-by-step instructions showing how to install Debian 8 (Jessie) on a Dell XPS 13 Developer Edition.  Eric also had some great things to say about the laptop and program themselves:

Dell calls their program Project Sputnik, and it is managed by a friendly team of Linux engineers inside Dell who partner with Ubuntu to ensure that your computer will Just Work with Linux.

The Dell XPS is also used by multiple Debian team members, so your pain points will be theirs, and they’re likely to quickly fix things.

Supporting Dell’s program is a wonderful thing to do, and it’s also just a great goddamned laptop.

Check out Eric’s Instructions and away you go!  Installing Debian 8 on a Dell XPS

Pau for now…

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Developers share experiences running Ubuntu on Dell M3800 and XPS 15

May 12, 2014

Back in November when we  launched Sputnik 3, we also announced its “unofficial big brother,” the Dell M3800 Precision workstation and the Dell XPS 15.  This announcement was based on the after-hours work that Dell Linux engineer Jared Dominguez did to test and document the system.

Quite a few developers have referenced Jared’s work, taken the plunge and installed Ubuntu on these beefier systems.

M3800 Precision workstation

Here is a video that Rudy Vissers from Belgium created last month.  Rudy walks us through his new M3800 Precision including touchscreen and graphics.

XPS 15 laptop

Web developer Matt Woodward, who is a Principal IT Specialist for the US Senate and one of the original Project Sputnik beta cosmonauts, decided on upgrading to the XPS 15.  He shared his experience running Ubuntu on the XPS 15 on his blog earlier this month.  Here is an excerpt:

…Once Ubuntu is installed everything works out of the box. The screen runs at the full, mind-blowing 3200×1800 resolution, and even the touch screen works. No issues with sound card, WiFi, or anything else. Awesome…

If you need something a bit bigger and beefier than the XPS 13 developer edition, you just may want to check out either the M3800 or XPS 15.

If you’d like to see these as official products that come with Ubuntu pre-installed add your voice here:  Gathering interest on official Ubuntu support for Precision M3800  No promises but who knows!

Extra-credit reading

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24 Hours of Pizza-fueled Innovation

March 7, 2014

RevoltTV

Postponed:  Over the weekend, due to circumstances beyond our control, we have had to postpone our first hackathon.  Stay tuned for more details.

Im very psyched to announce Dell’s first Hackathon which will be happening next week right here in Austin.

The Dell Center for Entrepreneurs and Dell Software Information Management Solutions are teaming up with music and entertainment television network, Revolt TV  for this 24 hour code-battle.

The event, which will take place at the #DellVenue, kicks off on Monday, March 10th and ends 24 grueling hours later at noon next day.

The Challenge

The task at hand is for the developers to create an app against the Revolt API that is based around Music, Videos, and/or Artists and their data.  Revolt has put together their wish list of apps and functionality they’d love to see created, but sky’s the limit (within 24 hours 😉

Applications that can be used

  • Windows Phone 8
  • Xbox
  • Android
  • Node.js
  • .NET

Databases that can be used

  • MS SQL Server
  • MySQL
  • MongoDB
  • Redis

The competition is limited to 50 developers who can form teams of up to five people.  At noon on March 11th the teams will present their work to a panel of judges and 3 team-finalists will be chosen.  All panelists will receive a badge to the Fader Fort for the preview party that night, with the winning team announced at the event.

The Reward

The top finalists will receive products and swag from Revolt and Dell.

  • The grand prize winning team receives $2,500 and the chance to work with Revolts’ team to integrate their app.
  • XPS13Im also particularly proud to say that each member of the winning team will receive the Ubuntu-based XPS13 developer edition aka Project Sputnik.  But wait, there’s more…all developer finalists get a free 1 year license of Dell Software’s Toad Data Point.  🙂

Want in?

If this sounds like something you like to take part in, we are taking the first 50 devs who sign up here.  Who knows, you could be one of Dell’s first ever Hackathon champions.

Extra-credit reading

Pau for now…

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Posted by Barton George

Sputnik 3 — Great Reviews from the Blog-o-sphere

January 29, 2014

At the end of last year we launched the third generation of the Dell XPS 13 Developer Edition, aka Sputnik 3, which features the 4th generation Intel processors.  This Ubuntu-based laptop is the third in a line of developer focused systems which began life as the internal skunk works effort, “Project Sputnik.”  Thanks to strong community input and support the project became a product a little over a year ago.

Over this past month there have been three great reviews that have come out that I wanted to share.

1) Dell XPS 13 Developer Edition review (Haswell, late 2013 model)

This first review, from J’s blog, is quite detailed and comprehensive.   It has great photos and got nice traction on Hacker News.  Here is the opening paragraph

The XPS 13 Developer Edition, aka “Project Sputnik”, is a laptop with a FullHD 13-inch screen, backlit keyboard, SSD, 4th gen intel CPU and comes pre-installed with Ubuntu 12.04 LTS.

What makes this machine so interesting is not so much that Ubuntu comes pre-installed on it (it would be easy for anybody to install it him/herself, after all), but rather that Dell put some extra-work in making sure everything works right out of the box and supports running Ubuntu on it. WiFi, keyboard backlight, screen brightness control, sleepmode, etc. are guaranteed to work. [read more]

2) Guide to Leaving Your Mac Laptop

Carin Meier not only reviewed the XPS 13 developer edition but walks folks who may be interested in leaving their Macs behind how she set up her programs that she uses on a daily basis.  This blog too has great pics.  Carin’s blog starts,

I felt like I was in a controlling relationship headed downhill. After two custom laptops returned for defective hardware, I wanted to leave. But leaving didn’t seem so easy after living in the walled garden of Apple all those years.

This blog post is about how to leave your Mac and return to OSS.

There are quite a few nice alternatives to the Mac Air out there. I decided to go with the new Sputnik 3. Some of my reasons:

  • Powerful – New Haswell processor
  • 13.3 inch touch display with 1920 x 1080 resolution
  • Ships with Ubuntu 12.04 (64 bit)
  • Nice design (yes looks are important) [Read more]

3) Got me a Dell XPS 13 Developer Edition

The third review, by David Pollack, is actually a twofer in that he posted a follow on entry,  Still Liking the XPS 13 Developer Edition, two weeks after the first.  David’s posts are succinct and well laid out and I love his concluding paragraph 🙂

Just buy one

If you’re doing development like Clojure and Java, then the XPS 13 Developer Edition is a better choice than the MacBook Pro. It’s less expensive and just as impressive hardware-wise. And I like Linux a lot more than OS X. [Read more]

Extra-credit reading

Pau for now…

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Posted by Barton George

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