According to Dell's blog, Direct2Dell, they will be expanding their Ubuntu offering to small business users and to more countries in the near future. And they even welcomed the possibility of competition from Hewlitt-Packard.

Dell also indicated they will provide minor technical updates about their Ubuntu systems. These minor updates will only appear in their "Linux" category. Dell has not made clear whether their "Linux category refers to the kernel, or to GNU/Linux systems in general. Even so, if you buy computer systems from Dell, it may be worthwhile to keep up to date.

Although I haven't yet confirmed whether the rumors about HP launching their own Ubuntu-based computers are true, I am willing to say that, if so, we might consider claiming 2007 as the Year of GNU/Linux on the desktop. If two major retailers begin offering GNU/Linux computers in the same year, I would call that a major victory. Elsewhere, Dell has been saying its Ubuntu sales are doing pretty well. My guess is, HP will do a fairly booming business as well, especially since many of their peripherals already work very well with GNU/Linux. But alas, only time will tell.