Now that Dell has made good on their promise of offering several different systems with Ubuntu as a choice over Windows, there are doubtless wondering to see if they can score decent hardware at a better price. Just how much money will you be saving by opting for a Dell system with Linux over Vista or XP, though? Only about $50. Nothing to shrug at, but a lot less than the actual cost of a retail (or OEM) license for a Microsoft OS. While it isn't quite the dent we'd hope, it isn't surprising – it's no secret that vendors like Dell receive significant discounts for volume licensing. Now we see just how much of a discount they get, however.

Now, the gap may widen significantly were you to compare a system that came stock with Vista Ultimate compared to the same with Ubuntu. However, those sorts of systems aren't available yet. Dell is promising to expand the line, so perhaps in the near future we can get a better idea of just how much of a Dell Dollar is sent to Microsoft.