Why Does Dell’s Ubuntu-Powered XPS 13 Cost More Than Its Windows Equivalent?

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Why Does Dell’s Ubuntu-Powered XPS 13 Cost More Than Its Windows Equivalent?

Dell's Ubuntu-powered XPS 13, codenamed Project Sputnik, started life as an internal R&D project. Now it's grown up and is available to buy online—but why does it cost more than a Windows equivalent?

The computer now takes the name XPS 13 Developer Edition, and comes with a Precise Pangolin Ubuntu build pre-installed along with a special raft of drivers to make sure it works with as many peripherals as possible. The hardware is similar to other XPS 13 models: either an Intel i5 or i7 Ivy Bridge CPU, 8GB of RAM and a 256 GB SATA III SSD, so it should run super-quick with that Ubuntu install.

But then there's the issue of price. All this comes in at $1,550—$50 more than the Windows equivalent. In other words, Dell is asking you to pay more for an open-source computer than for one running a proprietary OS. And that doesn't make much sense.

Sure it does. Ubuntu snobs will pay more for a computer with a non-Microsoft non-Apple PC and Dell can make more off of it. It's a win in their book.