Hello,
Here are some links worth reading.
First is a user who tried to install Ubuntu on his eeepc after knocking off Xandros. He mentions popping in a cd in the drive. He may have forgotten to mention that it was an external drive. This is an interesting statement reproduced.
"Geek Squad, a tech support service partnered with the Carphone Warehouse, is more used to dealing with problems with broadband and e-mail but later that night, Agent Jamie Pedder walks me through it over the phone. Download a couple of bits of code from one of the Linux help sites on to a memory stick. Whack the memory stick into the offending laptop. Bang a couple of lines of code into the terminal window to tell the machine to install what we've downloaded. Bingo, we're cooking on gas. Ubuntu's running my wireless network and I'm back on-line. Easy when you know how."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7594249.stm
Nice to know there is a phone support service there, to help in installing tricky device drivers for GNU/Linux.
Second is news about Dell supporting GNU/Linux for its computers after a user survey revealed that out of 100,000 people who participated in a survey, 70%+ wanted GNU/Linux.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6506027.stm
And 5th September is the new date for the release of Dell's Mini Inspiron that should be shipped with xp or Ubuntu 8.04. Keeping my fingers crossed about the actual release and final pricing.