I purchased a new Dell XPS with 13 inch touch screen that came with Windows 10 Home edition. I came from Windows 7, where through many hours of effort, managed to strip out all the excess tasks, and customize the OS to something I could use efficiently. But Windows 10 brings that task to a level I am not ready to start. My question is: What distribution/version of Linux would provide the full touch-screen capabilities as with Windows 10?

-->Edward in Richland, WA

I don't know about "full", but my other half has a HP where the touch screen works fine (for what we need) running Mint Mate - I would expect Cinnamon to be likewise. She has infrequent need to boot back to Win10 (an upgrade I stupidly allowed from Win7), but it's been months now since the last Win10 boot.
YMMV - try a liveUSB boot and see what works.

1 members found this post helpful.

Here's something from a web-search of:
best linux distro for Dell XPS 13 inch touch screen
http://adventuresinoss.com/2015/06/2...ubuntu-edition

I'd suggest -edit-#1, (GoAdvanced button), to change title to:
Best *touchpad* distro, for Dell XPS 13 <model?> ?
(vs. just 'repl win')

Maybe add more specific model# info; there's a zillion XPS13's!

Also, tho I shouldn't suggest 'something else', I love
VirtualBox.org (and OSboxes.org, for easier pre-installed)
http://davidwalling.com/ubuntu_002_xenial.pdf
to -just try- Linux -withOUT- 'disturbing the WinMonster'
(EFI boot 'fights', odd wifi device drivers, CLI... etc)

Also, you might indicate your 'experience level' with Linux
(&level of 'patience' [with CLI!], in case of [likely] glitches!)

Best wishes! I hope you ENJOY the Linux journey!

p.s. my fav 'LQhow2': http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...ml#post5669556

Oh, yes! YugoMileageMayVary: DDG: Live usb linux touchscreen

The issue is not the distro. Linux touchscreen support resides in the kernel.

The issue is whether the individual touchscreen is supported or not. Some outlying bits of hardware may not be well supported. Booting to a Live CD of something mainstream should quickly answer that question.

I have a Lenovo graphics tablet vintage Win7 that has run various distros with no issues with the touchscreen.

A web search for linux touchscreen will turn up a number of article.

2 members found this post helpful.

You have given me a good start for starting a series of tests. I particularly like the idea of keeping the Win10 OS, by trying to re-partition the (500GB SSD)to allow for a dual boot, if that is I cannot boot the different Linux OS versions from an external USB.

The adventure starts

-->Edward.

Always shrink/resize your hard drive from Windows! Windows is not forgiving like it used to be. Just shrink the Windows partition down till you get the desired free space. Then you can do the rest from Linux.

Beware of MFT "Master File Table" if Windows is installed. You may have to completely reinstall Windows after the resizing if its already installed.

I recommend Ubuntu with Gnome3. At work we have a whole bunch of Dell XPS18s that we purchased for a project that never took off. I am running Ubuntu on one of them and it works fine. Touch is responsive and accurate. No issues what so ever. Good Luck!

Dell sells the XPS13 touchscreen with the option of Ubuntu 16.04 preinstalled. If you just purchased the laptop, you could try returning it and purchasing the Ubuntu version instead. Or maybe Dell might be willing to sell or gift you a system restore image for their Ubuntu operating system.

In any case, Dell laptops usually have excellent Linux compatibility with any modern distribution. I am running Fedora 25 no problem on my Dell Precision 15, for example.

We can only hope that his Windows 10 machine came with an OS restore disc. I've read OEMS don't always include an OS restore disc nowadays.

It's nice to see another Ubuntu Gnome user. Which OS did you run before Linux? Windows? Or Mac OS X?

I know there was a time when Dell sold XPS's with Ubuntu installed, but I didn't see that the last time I was on the Dell website. I'll have to check again.

Update: I just checked, and when you go to the laptop page and then check the OS options, Windows 10 is the only option. A year or so ago, they had a "Developer Edition" XPS13 that had Ubuntu preinstalled. I guess it didn't sell as well as they hoped, and they probably figure that most folks who would buy it can install Ubuntu themselves, especially since all of the drivers are in the kernel and people can always buy Ubuntu discs (or disks) instead of making their own if they'd like.

That probably depends on where you live. Here where I live in the USA, Dell offers Ubuntu preinstalled on 7 different laptop models: the Precision 3510, 3520, 5510, 5520, 7510, and 7710, all of which are greatly customizable, and of course the Dell XPS 13 Developer Edition (which is offered in 4 different configurations).

Make sure you are looking in the Dell business "for work" store, not "for home".

Dell tends to have commercial versions of their site to offer linux on instead of the default home sort of web page. In fact HP and other companies do that to target the intended audience.

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction.

I would not have expected that. Since Windows has a foothold in the business market and there are many business programs which are only for Windows, desktop Linux has always been more of a home operating system for hobbists.

I really would have expected the Home part of Dell’s site to have laptops preloaded with Ubuntu and that the Work part of their site would have only had Windows.

The only folks who would probably use Linux at work (that I can think of) would be software developers, web developers, and maybe network administrators. Pretty much everyone else in business would be using Windows due to the vast amount of Windows-only software.