KDE And Slimbook Partner To Announce A Laptop For KDE Enthusiasts

While it's not that hard to find a notebook preinstalled with Linux nowadays (you still need to put some effort in), what's even rarer is finding a Linux notebook that's branded with some GNU goodness. That changes with the Slimbook. Ahem, "KDE Slimbook".

Slimbook is a Spanish notebook provider that thrives on building systems that revolve around a free and open ecosystem. With KDE Slimbook, KDE's own developers were involved in the polishing process, going as far as to release patches to fix the issues that persisted before launch. The ensures that those who purchase a device today will be able to enjoy as bug-free and smooth an experience as possible.

As popular as KDE is, it seems to get shunned an awful lot when it comes to prebuilt notebooks. Many vendors prefer to focus on some sort of GNOME variant, or Ubuntu's Unity. So with KDE Slimbook, fans of the Plasma desktop environment can opt for an option that's fine-tuned, just for them, and are surely able to enjoy the assurance that any future bugs should be squashed quite quickly.

The KDE team says that the Slimbook ships with KDE neon, a software stack that's built around Ubuntu's up-to-date LTS version. It's not a distro in itself, but rather a repository that aims to get updates in user hands as quickly as possible.

As for the hardware, Slimbook offers three variants of its KDE Slimbook, ranging in price from €599 ~ 799, and from Intel Core i3 to Core i7. All of the versions are dual-core only, but feature HyperThreading. The final package should also be quite attractive, with a 1080p screen squeezed into a modest 13" frame.

It looks like this notebook can be purchased outside of Spain, but you'll have to add €99 for international shipping. If this notebook takes off, it'd be great to see other Linux-friendly vendors on these shores release a model based around KDE as well.