COMPUTER MAKER Acer seems to have followed Dell's lead and started preinstalling Ubuntu in at least one range of its laptops.

So far there has been only one reported advertisement for an Ubuntu based product, in Singapore. Ubuntu has been shoved under the bonnet of its Intel duel core Aspire 5710z machines which are selling for £326.

I think this is a temporary offer only, and I don't have many more details than what is in the product page, but it looks like Acer is making a limited laptop series available now with Ubuntu Linux pre-loaded.

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Acer, the world's third-largest PC maker, believes that Linux software is a key to the low-cost laptop computer movement and hopes to create a community around the devices, a top executive said.

Acer's Nvidia Ion-based micro desktop PC, Revo, will go on sale in the UK on 5 May, with Ubuntu Linux among the available operating systems.

Acer is planning to sell Linux-based PCs to the UK market, the company told ZDNet.co.uk.

Acer is planning to sell Linux-based PCs to the UK market, the company told ZDNet.co.uk.

According to Gianpiero Morbello Acer, Acer's VP of Marketing and Brand:

"We have shifted towards Linux because of Microsoft. "

Acer announced three new Android smartphones, as well as an Android 2.1 version of its Liquid phone. Acer's BeTouch e400 and BeTouch E110 fall into the mid- and low-end range, while the Acer "Liquid e" and Formula One styled Acer Ferrari smartphone both appear to target the upper ranges of Android phones.