Lenovo ThinkPads, ThinkStations Can Now Have Ubuntu Linux Pre-Installed

While the year of the Linux Desktop remains a dream, awareness and adoption of this open source operating system has perhaps never been better. That's partly thanks to companies like Canonical that push Linux not only to businesses but also to consumers. The latter, however, would probably prefer not to have to install Linux themselves on their new laptops or desktops. With the latest fruit of the collaboration between the Ubuntu maker and Lenovo, they won't have to, presuming they're buying a new ThinkPad or ThinkStation.

Ubuntu on ThinkPads is almost a perfect match. Linux remains the preferred OS of many developers and system administrators and those also have a thing for ThinkPads and the younger ThinkStation desktops. So why not just put those two together from the get-go?

This announcement from Canonical and Lenovo does exactly that, offering buyers the option to have Ubuntu 20.04 LTS already installed in their next purchase of a Lenovo PC. Of course, it is always possible to install Linux, not just Ubuntu, on almost any PC after the fact, and Canonical even provided custom deployment options for putting Ubuntu on Lenovo computers. This, however, does away with all that complexity and confusion and has Ubuntu ready the moment you boot it up for the first time.

The expansion of the program for Lenovo's Ubuntu-certified devices isn't just about preloading Ubuntu, though. It also comes with the guarantee that all of the hardware and software work together flawlessly out of the box. That even includes NVIDIA GPU drivers, something that any Linux users will attest can be a huge pain.

The list of computers available to have Ubuntu pre-installed spans almost 30 devices, including Lenovo's popular ThinkPad X1 series. These will be available globally starting this month but will only be rolling out in phases all throughout 2021.