The Dell XPS 17 is currently one of the best 17-inch laptops on the market. It features a premium design that comprises an aluminum chassis with a carbon fiber finish on the deck and super-thin bezels all around the display. The laptop can also deliver great performance powered by the latest 11th-gen Intel Tiger Lake-H processors and NVIDIA’s RTX mobile GPUs. But what if you're a developer and prefer Linux over Windows?

Unlike the XPS 13, however, the larger 17-inch model isn't available as a Developer Edition. This means Dell doesn't sell an Ubuntu version of XPS 17 -- it's only available with Windows 10 preinstalled.

Dell XPS 17 9710: Specifications

Dell XPS 17

CPU

  • Intel Core i5-11400H (12MB Cache, up to 4.5 GHz, 6 cores)
  • Intel Core i7-11800H (24MB Cache, up to 4.6 GHz, 8 cores)
  • Intel Core i9-11900H (24MB Cache, up to 4.9 GHz, 8 cores)

Graphics

  • Intel UHD Graphics
  • NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 4GB GDDR6 [60W]
  • NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 6GB GDDR6 [70W]

Body

  • 374.45×248.05×19.05 mm (14.74×9.76×0.77 inches)
  • Starting weight: 2.21 kg (4.87 lb)

Display

  • 17-inch FHD+ (1920 x 1200) InfinityEdge Non-Touch, Anti-Glare, 500-Nit
  • 17-inch UHD+ (3840 x 2400) InfinityEdge Touch, Anti-Reflective, 500-Nit Display

Ports

  • 4x Thunderbolt 4
  • 1 Universal Audio Jack

Storage

  • Up to 4TB M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD
  • SD card reader

RAM

  • Up to 64GB DDR4 3200MHz

Battery

  • 97WHr battery

Audio

  • Stereo woofer 2W x 2 and stereo tweeter 2.5W x 2 = 5W total peak
  • Waves Nx 3D Audio

Camera

  • 720p at 30fps webcam

Connectivity

  • Killer Wi-Fi 6 AX1650 (2 x 2)
  • Bluetooth 5.1

Color

  • Platinum Silver with Black carbon fiber palm rest

Price

  • Starting at $1,550

But can the Dell XPS 17 run Linux?

The Dell XPS 17 can most definitely run Linux. Although installing the OS by yourself might be a task, we can assure you the laptop should easily support most Linux-based distributions. There are two ways to run Linux on the XPS 17. First of all, you need to get the latest Linux distribution of your choice. We recommend you go for Ubuntu (v20.04.2.0 LTS) since it's the most popular choice and can be downloaded for free over here.

Next, you need to decide whether you would like to run Ubuntu as a virtual machine or dual-boot alongside Windows 10. The first method is fairly simple and a safer way to enjoy Linux on your XPS 17. All you need to do is download a virtual machine software, like VMware Workstation Player, on your laptop and load the Ubuntu ISO file you downloaded. This will allow you to run Linux inside Windows itself safely.

The second method can be complicated and requires a bit of knowledge of what you’re doing. If you want to install Linux on your XPS 17, we recommend carefully going through this guide on installing Linux on a Windows laptop for dual-boot. Additionally, you can also follow our guide to dual-boot Linux with Windows 11, which should be very similar for machines that are running on Windows 10.

The 17 inch Dell XPS 17 9710 is a premium notebook powered by Intel 11th-gen Tiger Lake-H processors and offers support for up to three external monitors via its Thunderbolt 3 ports.
Dell XPS 17 9710

The Dell XPS 17 9710 is the largest offering under the XPS series featuring a 17-inch display, and the latest 11th-gen Intel Tiger Lake-H processors with up to an NVIDIA RTX 3060 mobile GPU. While it isn't available with Linux, you can easily run the OS on this laptop.

Check out our list of the best laptops for 2021 and our dedicated list of the best Dell laptops. We also have a roundup of the best Thunderbolt docks to expand your connectivity options.