Linux

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I have two XPS laptops that run the latest Ubuntu Linux flawlessly. Hell, that's why I bought them. They are literally sold with Linux preinstalled, why wouldn't they work?

I even get BIOS/firmware updates in GNOME Software!

The real problem is that certain XPS laptops like the 9500 had terrible design problems that dell tried to mask with software in linux. E.g., speaker balancing or high idle power draw. Other design atrocities such as unstable touchpads or improper grounding were initially blamed on linux even though the problem was hardware.

I got mine two years ago and I've regretted it since two weeks into it. But since my job bought it for me, I'm stuck with the POS. Do yourself a favor and stick with Thinkpad, or even better Framework.

I've owned 3 of different generations. The first had a broadcom chipset, which gave me occasional trouble. The most recent, ca 2020, was rock solid and worked without issue under Arch. All hardware worked flawlessly. Currently runing Artix on it, and the challenges I'm finding have less to do with the XPS/Linux combo, and more with Artix.

Go ahead; it'll work fine.

Edit: fixed typos

Yes, I use one daily. The fingerprint reader of my model doesn't have the right drivers, but the rest is fine. Bluetooth works on mine, but might be dependent on the exact XPS model

Says it can run Linux Ubuntu right on their website

I've been using a Dell XPS L502X with fedora since it was delivered 10/8/2011. No real problems, but I recently moved to voidlinux and almost doubled my battery life. Dell put quite a lot of time into supporting linux.

I support only Dell XPS 13/15 inch laptops at work exclusively with Fedora Linux, 99% of things work; occasional issues with things like the fingerprint sensor which is better supported in Ubuntu (it's a usb based goodix fingerprint sensor). The latest 15 inch has some issues with sound being quiet but over amplification solves this with some fidelity loss which isn't a problem for normal alet type noises.

Iirc your model (we had one of) works more or less flawless out of the box.

I've used debian without any issues on a couple XPS laptops, though the current one is admittedly a few years old at this point.

With the exception of a fingerprint reader (which does not have a working Linux driver) I have had an exceptional experience over the last 5 years with Linux (Both Fedora, Ubuntu Gnome and Ubuntu Budgie) and a Dell XPS 9380

Dell provides XPS laptop with Ubuntu on it. It works great and Ubuntu can be replaced with other distro ( I did successfully tested Mint and now Debian 11)

Got an XPS 13 9350, works fine, bluetooth and all, though I upgraded Ubuntu and the kernel and the integrated webcam hasn't worked since, which I still don't really understand.

What issues do you have? Maybe try to spend some time to fix the issues and not resort to distro hopping. Learn to fix it and you should know how to deal with the issues on any distros.

https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Dell_XPS_13_(9310)

I have a 9510 that I use in my capacity as a MSSQL developer. Works great, except the touchpad randomly becomes laggy and sluggish. The solution is just to take your hand off the touchpad for 15 seconds, or just use a mouse, which doesn't have a problem.

I sure hope so . I have a new XPS 13 9315 on the way!

I've been running a 2019 XPS 13 on Debian without any major issues, just sleep that has high battery drain. But I think that's a common issue.

I have a 13 plus (9320). Everything works in any distro, except for the webcam. Dell provides drivers for it for ubuntu 20.04 and 22.04, and only for the default kernels it comes with. You can also get it working on arch.

Work is being done on these alder lake webcams, but there still is no support for them in the kernel at the moment.

I run mine in ubuntu with a newer kernel. And use my phone with droidcam as a webcam as a work-a-round. The newer kernels run better for battery life etc. I still have the default kernel installed, so I can reboot and use that, when I really need the built in cam.

I use OpenSUSE Tumbleweed on an XPS 13 9360 with an 8th-gen i7. No problems at all, and it runs much faster and cooler than it ever did under Windows. As far as I can tell everything works, including trackpad, touchscreen, wifi and Bluetooth. (This is under X11; under Wayland the trackpad doesn't work properly and the scaling is all off.) This one doesn't have a fingerprint reader though.

currently typing on my Dell Precision with a Bluetooth mouse, Bluetooth headset, and discrete NVIDIA graphics. This Precision replaced my XPS where I used the same install of Manjaro.

I don't buy Dell laptops anymore because of how poorly the hardware they choose works with Linux. I swear they'll literally look for the one wifi chipset that doesn't work on Linux when they're building they're laptops.

(I've had three different XPS laptops, each with unique hardware incompatibilities under Linux. I now have an Acer, an MSI, and a Chuwi, and all work 100%.)

I remember only being able to run Manjaro on my Inspiron 15 7559 (i tried ubuntu, debian and a few others, couldn't get them to boot even in live environment)

Maybe try that. Manjaro gets a lot of hate but it saved me that time.

Daily drive a 9500 on latest Fedora. Only thing that doesn’t work is the fingerprint scanner and honestly I don’t care in the slightest.

My XPS 9310 2 in 1 works great with Fedora. Literally the only hardware that didn't work after install was the fingerprint scanner. Everything else seems perfect. It even recognizes when the laptop is folded into a tablet and provides the virtual keyboard and does auto rotate.

I've found it works flawlessly on mine, with a minor caveat that the fingerprint sensor doesn't work (some Dell models do, just not the one I got). I'm using Arch Linux on a 9310 2-in-1.

I suggest checking the Arch Wiki The wiki has compatibility notes for many XPS laptops on what works, what doesn't, and what workarounds may be available. If you're not planning on using Arch, your distro of choice may have a wiki with that info too.