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I am using a Dell XPS 13 9343.

  1. Is this laptop compatible?

  2. Have you found any problems while using it?

  3. Once regular Ubuntu is installed, can I then install Ubuntu Mate or something onto it without losing my files and apps?

Thanks.

Ed St John
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  • First two questions are off-topic at this site. The answer to the third one is positive ;-) – Pilot6 Feb 22 '16 at 16:33
  • Dell is pretty good in Ubuntu compatibility. And your model is even sold with Ubuntu, if you prefer. I'm in my 4th Dell notebook only Ubuntu only, due excellent support. – Rael Gugelmin Cunha Feb 22 '16 at 16:59
  • The non-Sputnik version of the laptop may have issues with Ubuntu, as the hardware may not necessarily be all Intel, and drivers may not be available for Linux. Various pieces of hardware (particularly the WiFi/Bluetooth module in the XPS 13), may change on a whim in Windows equipped laptops, if the price of one module becomes cheaper than another, to Dell. If you want Ubuntu, it's best to buy the developer edition which comes pre-loaded, as this tells Dell that people are interested in Ubuntu on their hardware, and it supports Canonical/Ubuntu when you do. – dobey Feb 22 '16 at 17:13

2 Answers2

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I have a Dell XPS 9343 (your exact same model). Purchased it with Windows, and I installed Ubuntu later. Ubuntu 15.10 works flawlessly, I am using it 12 hours a day for work and personal use.

Only complaint is the wireless card, which is generally quite poor. But it works better in Ubuntu than it does on Windows!

I am using Kubuntu, but any other Ubuntu flavor will probably work as well.

Only suggestion: do NOT go with Ubuntu 14.04, take 15.10.

Palantir
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I have installed Ubuntu on many laptops (more than five, maybe more like ten), and I have yet to see a laptop with any compatibility issues.

That said, there are guides for your specific model on the internet (here and here). Dell sells a "Developer Edition" of the XPS 13 9343, and so it would seem that Ubuntu would work perfectly out of the box. However, the version of Ubuntu that these laptops are running has been tweaked a bit for hardware support. Using the above guide (try the first one, it is more relevant), you can install all the drivers that Dell installs.

Also check the official Ubuntu compatibility page for this model: http://www.ubuntu.com/certification/hardware/201410-15913/

As for your last question, Ubuntu MATE is a child-OS of Ubuntu. It is virtually the same as getting the normal Ubuntu version and installing the MATE desktop environment (DE) (see this question). In your case, you would do the latter.

Community
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willem.hill
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  • There is lot's of incompatible hardware. it is not very common, but really lot's of touchpads, wireless adapters, etc that won't work in linux. – Pilot6 Feb 22 '16 at 16:48