I have brought a new dell xps 15 hoping that i would have a chance to learn linux. The specs are intel core i7 2720QM,8GB RAM,Nvidia Geforce GT 525M,750GB 7200RPM HDD. But my friends scare me that you cannot install linux on dell xps. if, installed there would be a hardware trouble and the system would crash and i would have to go to dell customer care for repair and i dont have a warranty that works in india because i bought the laptop in america. Can anyone help me solve this problem by telling me whether i can install linux on my laptop or not?

You should be able to install linux without any serious problems.

Before you install, it would be a good idea to run a 'liveCD'. Live CDs run totally off the CD/DVD, so there are no changes to your installed windows version.

The only thing that wont work is the Vidia GPU. They normally work, but the setup in your laptop is nVidia 'optimus' and nVidia does not support optimus with linux.

Try Ubuntu Natty (11.04). Worked for this guy:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/dell...nux-l502x.html