Lenovo announced a global expansion of its certification program, which it announced in June, to include PCs pre-loaded with Canonical Ubuntu® LTS operating system. Previously available to businesses on request only, the full range of nearly 30 Ubuntu-based devices will now be available for purchase through Lenovo.com. This includes 13 ThinkStation and ThinkPad P-series workstations and 14 ThinkPad T, X, X1 and L series notebooks, all of which will ship with Ubuntu 20.04 LTS pre-installed, with the exception of the L series which will be version 18.04.
Lenovo’s vision of enabling smarter technology for all really does mean ‘for all’. Our announcement of device certification in June was a step in the right direction to enable customers to more easily install Linux on their own. Our goal is to remove the complexity and provide the Linux community with the premium experience that our customers know us for. This is why we have taken this next step to offer Linux-ready devices right out of the box. - Igor Bergman, Vice President of PCSD Software & Cloud at Lenovo.
This extension increases access to open source applications, libraries and tools to improve developer productivity. Not only does this offer a seamless turnkey experience for those who previously hated the often time-consuming process of booting Linux onto their Lenovo devices, but it also provides the community of programmers, software developers, artificial intelligence professionals, and other Linux users with an increased device choice.
Installing Linux on existing machines is still an insurmountable hurdle for some, so the arrival of another hardware vendor to Linux is a landmark event. In terms of accessibility, while it will be global, don't expect everything to work all at once, Lenovo said it will start now and roll out in stages until 2021.
Lenovo’s expansion of Ubuntu certified devices shows great commitment to open source and the Linux community. With data scientists and developers increasingly needing Linux for emerging workloads, this collaboration enables enterprises to equip their employees with the assurance of long-term stability, added security and simplified IT management. - Dean Henrichsmeyer, VP of Engineering at Canonical.
This global expansion includes the following Lenovo ThinkPad and ThinkStation devices, which will be available worldwide from September 2020 and will be phased in until 2021:
- ThinkPad T14 (Intel and AMD)
- ThinkPad T14s (Intel and AMD)
- ThinkPad T15p
- ThinkPad T15
- ThinkPad X13 (Intel and AMD)
- ThinkPad X13 Yoga
- ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 3
- ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 8
- ThinkPad X1 Yoga Gen 5
- ThinkPad L14
- ThinkPad L15
- ThinkPad P15s
- ThinkPad P15v
- ThinkPad P15
- ThinkPad P17
- ThinkPad P14s
- ThinkPad P1 Gen 3
- ThinkStation P340
- ThinkStation P340 Tiny
- ThinkStation P520c
- ThinkStation P520
- ThinkStation P720
- ThinkStation P920
- ThinkStation P620
For more information see here.