The first laptop with 22.04 LTS certification is Dell’s redesigned XPS.
Dell is putting Linux on the Dell XPS 13 Plus because it likes Linux so much. Today, Canonical said that Ubuntu 22.04 LTS has been certified for the Developer Edition of the laptop. That means the laptop will be sold with the latest version of Ubuntu starting in August, and owners of the XPS 13 Plus Developer Edition can download Ubuntu 22.04 LTS right now for guaranteed performance, even if they bought it with Windows 11.
The XPS 13 Plus Developer Edition is the first laptop to be certified for 22.04 LTS. So far, only Raspberry Pi devices have been certified. But Dell has been certifying some of its XPS laptops and other machines to work with Ubuntu for years. Systems from HP and Lenovo are also approved by Ubuntu.
Canonical’s announcement today said that Ubuntu certification means that all the parts will “work as expected.” Also, the device will be supported for at least 10 years if it has Ubuntu LTS certification. On the page about Ubuntu’s release cycle, it says that LTS (long-term support) releases come with 10 years of maintenance and security updates for the “Base Package.”
“When needed, certified devices also have software or drivers that are different from the default distribution. These are set up in a meta-package that automatically installs the best combination of packages, drivers, and the kernel for that device “The announcement from Canonical said.
“These changes are part of the factory images that partners like Dell use. They are also upstreamed to the main Ubuntu distribution so that certified devices get the right meta-package even when users install Ubuntu themselves.”
