Continuing with its Linux initiative started in May, Dell is adding Ubuntu 7.10 (a.k.a Gutsy Gibbon) to its consumer lineup in the U.S. The company announced that the new system will be available on the Inspiron 530 desktops and Inspiron 1420 laptops.

Responding to “one of the key requests from customers interested in Linux,” Dell is also adding built-in automatic DVD movie playback to all Ubuntu 7.10 systems. Although it has long been possible to play DVDs on Linux, with most Linux distributions, it is necessary to manually enable this functionality due to some legal restrictions inherent to the wide variety of DRM schemes available. Gutsy Gibbon on Dell also has improved 3-D visual effects, a better desktop search engine, pre-installed Flash, and improved recovery options.