And while earlier Linux-based machines didn't exactly set the company's sales charts on fire, several IT analysts and Linux luminaries said conditions are better for Dell to try again.

"I think it would be very worthwhile for Dell," said Jon "Maddog" Hall, the executive director of Linux International, an open-source advocacy group in Amherst, N.H. "It's always better when a hardware manufacturer works with software vendors" to integrate their products for users. "That's what makes a good combination. That's why Apple is so good at what they do."

Hall, who hasn't used a Windows-based computer in some six or seven years, said that with more Linux applications available, the time may be right for Dell to release such hardware. "Today, with several good Linux desktop distributions like Ubuntu, Red Hat and Novell SUSE, [the tide is] turning -- particularly with people who are a little dissatisfied with Vista and its minimum hardware requirements. I think this would be a good time to revisit this."

Eric S. Raymond, president of The Open Source Initiative and author of The Cathedral and The Bazaar, said in an e-mail that the postings from users on the Dell site is "a sign [that] users are demanding genuine choices. Microsoft's line is doubtless going to be that what we've seen is a tiny band of zealots stuffing the IdeaStorm ballot box," Raymond wrote.

"In truth, I actually considered that possibility myself. But I dismissed it on evidence" that included posts from other users who complained about real-world concerns such as pop-ups and dealing with support personnel in foreign Dell tech-support call centers, he wrote.