Dell Inc. will begin selling desktop PCs in Wal-Mart stores in June, a major departure from the company's direct sales strategy.

Dell announced Thursday it would make the Dimension desktop model available in Wal-Marts in the United States and Canada on June 10 as part of a global retail strategy to provide its customers with more options, according to Dell Canada spokeswoman Janet Fabri.

Wal-Mart will begin selling Dell Dimension computers on June 10 in Canada. The retail giant has 284 stores across Canada.
(Paul Sakuma/Associated Press)

"It's a first step in an initiative to reach customers in different ways," Fabri told CBC News Online.

But "the vast majority" of Dell's customers still prefer to buy their computers directly, she said.

Dell pioneered direct sales of computers, in which consumers buy directly from the company without going through a retailer.

The news comes on the same day Dell began offering to U.S. customers PCs pre-installed with Ubuntu 7.04, a Linux-based operating system.

Dell will offer U.S. customers Ubuntu on three systems: the XPS 410n and Dimension E520n desktops and the Inspiron E1505n notebook.

The Linux-installed PCs are not available in Canada, said Fabri, though she said Dell Canada will be looking at the option in the future.

Linux is a free operating system developed by volunteer programmers around the world and is seen as a low-cost alternative to market-leader Microsoft's Windows operating system.

The move to offer Ubuntu came in response to customer comments on the company's IdeaStorm website.

The company pointed out that more than 70 per cent of more than 100,000 respondents said they would use a Dell system with a Linux operating system for home and office use, according to a survey conducted in March.

Both moves announced Thursday could open new markets for the computer maker, which has struggled in the past year with poor sales.

Company founder Michael Dell returned to the company as CEO earlier this year after the company announced its fourth-quarter profits had plunged to $673 million US, compared to $1.01 billion a year earlier.

With files from the Associated Press