The first 56 days of the 2008 have been tremendous. Here’s what has happened at System76.

Ubuntu 64 Pre-Installed and Supported

Almost since inception System76 has shipped laptops and desktops that support 64 bit operating systems. We continuously tested 64 bit Ubuntu until finally, with the 7.10 release, we felt confident that the operating system was ready for our main stream (and enthusiast) customers. Now our customers can take advantage of increased performance and ever increasing amounts of affordable memory — 4 GB of laptop memory is only $160 from System76.

Adobe Flash Pre-Installed

Along with 64 bit Ubuntu, System76 licensed and started shipping Adobe Flash pre-installed. This was a tough one for me. I support and prefer open source alternatives whenever possible and if there is a choice I’d rather leave it to our customer to decide. In this case a temporary Ubuntu bug caused confusion when customers tried to install Adobe Flash and with the critical nature of sites like YouTube we decided to act.

Server Storage

Most online server configuration tools include an unnecessary number of options - particularly when it comes to hard drives and storage. When I think of a server I think of space not hard drives. We adjusted our configurations accordingly. Instead of choosing each hard drive, the RAID controller, and the RAID level we created options based on your desired storage capacity and the type of redundancy you require.

New System76 Desktops Released

In January we released a Koala Mini platform refresh and three new desktops. The Ratel Value and Wild Dog feature 80 Plus certified power supplies. The 80 plus program is a forum of energy companies, industry manufacturers, and consumers aiming to bring greater energy efficient to desktops and servers.