To anyone who has spent any time researching companies that offer hardware with Linux pre-installed, chances are you know about the Dell XPS Developer edition. This began as project Sputnik in 2011, when Dell’s Barton George realized that no major OEM was building a fully-supported Linux laptop that included drivers and provided a great out of the box experience.

Fast forward nine years later, and the project is still going strong. In fact, the Dell XPS Developer Edition has been declared a best in show Linux laptop by numerous reviewers and outlets. Dell knows this and understands the audience for which this hardware is targeted. Dell also listens to the communities they serve.

Case in point, the Linux community.

One thing that has been sorely missing from Linux laptops is support for the fingerprint reader. This form of biometric security is not only superior to passwords, it’s more efficient. And Dell is finally bringing a finger reader to the 10th generation XPS 13" Developer Edition.

Although details on the fingerprint reader are sparse, Dell has announced that support for the fingerprint reader will be available (as an over the air update) soon after the hardware is released in February 2020.

For those that are curious, the specs for the machine look like:

• 10th Gen Intel® Core™ 10nm mobile processors
• Ubuntu 18.04 LTS
• Fingerprint reader support (driver initially available via OTA update)
• Up to 32GB memory
• Up to 3x faster wireless with Killer™ AX1650 built on Intel WiFi 6 Chipset, supports up to 2TB PCIe SSD
• Up to 4K Ultra HD+ (3840 x 2400) display

Cost for new XPS Developer Edition will start at $1199 USD.

Original announcement from Barton George’s website.