Lenovo begins selling OEM Ubuntu PCs to the general public

Enlarge / No, that's not a pink panther—that catlike critter is a fossa, and it's both mascot and default wallpaper of Ubuntu 20.04, preloaded on this Thinkpad P920. (credit: Lenovo)

Beginning today, Lenovo is offering a greatly expanded selection of OEM Linux PCs to the general public. Earlier this year, Lenovo began offering Fedora Linux pre-installed on laptop systems including Thinkpad P1 Gen 2, Thinkpad P54, and Thinkpad X1 Gen 8. Today's announcement makes Ubuntu Linux available on a considerably broader swath of both desktop and laptop PCs.

ThinkPad T14 (AMD and Intel)	ThinkPad X1 Yoga Gen 5	ThinkPad P1 Gen 3
ThinkPad T14s (AMD and Intel)	ThinkPad L14	ThinkStation P340
ThinkPad T15p	ThinkPad L15	ThinkStation P340 Tiny
ThinkPad T15	ThinkPad P15s	ThinkStation P520c
ThinkPad X13 (AMD and Intel)	ThinkPad P15v	ThinkStation P520
ThinkPad X13 Yoga	ThinkPad P15	ThinkStation P620
ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 3	ThinkPad P17	ThinkStation P720
ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 8	ThinkPad P14s	ThinkStation P920

The devices themselves—and their Ubuntu certifications—aren't new, but the public accessibility is. Previously, these systems were only available to enterprise customers via custom bid, but the 27 new models—mostly featuring Ubuntu 20.04, except for the L series laptops featuring Ubuntu 18.04—will now be available for retail purchase through Lenovo.com. Just beware of the footnote warning that some models may be limited to specific markets.

Although it has been simple for individual customers "in the know" about enterprise-only model certifications to buy those machines with Windows and install Ubuntu themselves, the new OEM program removes roadblocks in both knowing which systems to buy and getting factory support on them once installed.

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