COMPUTER MAKER Acer seems to have followed Dell's lead and started preinstalling Ubuntu in at least one range of its laptops.

So far there has been only one reported advertisement for an Ubuntu based product, in Singapore. Ubuntu has been shoved under the bonnet of its Intel duel core Aspire 5710z machines which are selling for £326.

I think this is a temporary offer only, and I don't have many more details than what is in the product page, but it looks like Acer is making a limited laptop series available now with Ubuntu Linux pre-loaded.

Acer, the world's third-largest PC maker, believes that Linux software is a key to the low-cost laptop computer movement and hopes to create a community around the devices, a top executive said.

Acer is planning to sell Linux-based PCs to the UK market, the company told ZDNet.co.uk.

Acer is planning to sell Linux-based PCs to the UK market, the company told ZDNet.co.uk.

Desktop on Demand (DOD) is the latest contender to give users a full-fledged remote desktop instead of Web-based applications to help users to stay productive when they are on the move. Similar to Ulteo (which we reviewed not long ago), DOD gives you a full-blown remote Linux-based desktop -- but that's where the similarity ends.

This is really awesome, Acer is thinking in an Open Source console:

"If you look at most of the other game machines that are out there right now -- Nintendo's, the Xbox -- they are 'closed' and proprietary systems"

LinuxCertified Inc, a leading provider of Linux laptops, today announced its next generation laptops optimised for engineering and scientific community. Powered with Ubuntu 7.04, these laptops focus on high performance and scalability. The laptops come pre-configured with many of the common tools used by technical users.

According to Gianpiero Morbello Acer, Acer's VP of Marketing and Brand:

"We have shifted towards Linux because of Microsoft. "