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What operating system do the heads of Fortune 500 companies run on their personal laptops?
In the case of Michael S. Dell, president and CEO of Dell, its Ubuntu 7.04 Feisty Fawn.
Yes, the head of Dell, with a market-capitalization of just south of $56 billion, isnt just saying that Dell will be selling Linux-equipped PCs in the near future—hes already running Linux at home.
To be precise, Mr. Dell, in addition to running the latest version of Ubuntu, which is still scheduled for final release on April 19, is also running the VMware Workstation 6 Beta, OpenOffice.org 2.2, Automatix2, Firefox 2.0.0.3 and Evolution Groupware 2.10.
The only name that most Linux users may not recognize immediately on that list is Automatix2. Automatix2 is a popular Debian, Ubuntu, Pioneer and MEPIS Linux add-on program.
With that application in place, it becomes mindlessly simple to install useful software that doesnt come with a vanilla Ubuntu installation.
It includes access to Skype, Opera, Macromedia Flash, Google Earth, Picasa, Adobe Reader, DVD support, Wi-Fi and so on.
Mr. Dell is running all this on a loaded Dell Precision M90. The company describes this as a mobile workstation.