Dell unveils Moblin netbook

Dell is to start selling a Mini 10v netbook running open source Moblin, the firm announced today at the Intel Developer Forum (IDF).

Moblin, which yesterday unveiled an update, is an Intel Atom-focused mobile operating system looking to compete with fellow open source system Android.

Announcing the new Dell netbook, Canonical chief executive Mark Shuttleworth said the Mini10v will run an Ubuntu Moblin remix. "The interface is all of the goodness of Moblin, with all the goodness of Ubuntu, on Dell's top selling notebook," he said.

Shuttleworth and Dell vice president of small consumer devices John Thode told attendees that Moblin was ideal because it was fast and easy to use, had been optimised for fast boot time, and had quick resume times from suspended state.

"It's lighting fast, it really changes how you use the device," said Shuttleworth.

Thorde claimed Dell was the first to factory install Moblin on a netbook.

The Dell 10v with Moblin will be available from tomorrow from the Dell website. That model usually starts from $299.

Click here for more news from the Intel Developer Forum 2009.