Dell didn't and according to the Dell.se website, still don't ship the Dell Mini 9 with Ubuntu to Sweden, or they didn't until this week anyway. I will be receiving the very first one to be shipped in Sweden in approximately seven days and I'm quite excited.

I'm quite excited for a few reasons; first I need something a little more portable than my 17" XPS, which when you take it into town soon becomes a burden as it's quite heavy, but it does pack a punch and has everything I need in it and it still doesn't slow, after nearly three years of pretty much always on activity.

The other main reason is, it's coming with Ubuntu, a Linux based operating system, developed by the Ubuntu community. Now, I've never used Ubuntu before and seeing as this netbook is not really going to be connected to anything or used for anything that I would call critical, I thought I'd give it a go. As long as I've got a browser and access to my Google account, I'll have everything I need - anything else I decide to install, is just for communication and administration.

But the most impressive reason about me getting this is because it is the first time Dell have shipped this system with Ubuntu in Sweden. Up until the other day they never had and didn't have any intention of doing so.

Basically this is a great example of what a little bit of persistence can get you and why sometimes 'the man' is also the best person to contact. It all started after I decided to get one, emailed my regular sales contact at Dell and he replied saying there was no way I was getting one and that it was only available with Windows.

I dropped it for a few hours, spoke to Dell in the UK, who transferred me to India who as usual annoyed me so much I just hang up on them but then I thought I'd just email Michael Dell and tell him about my order problem and see if he can help me out. Michael Dell founded Dell and is still the CEO, so I figured he'd help. I didn't really, but I thought there was no harm in trying.

The next morning, I've got two emails in my inbox and I've got my contact at Dell in Denmark phoning me up basically telling me I can have anything I want.

Now, how about that for taking an interest in the customer? For the record, my faith in Dell is restored and all they've got to do now is make me a tester for all the new systems they have coming out and I'll be over the moon!