Ordered a Dell XPS 13 Developer Edition from HIDevolution

So I ordered this Dell XPS 13 Developer Edition from HIDevolution that comes pre-installed with Ubunto 14.04 and obviously all drivers should work as Dell markets it as a Linux machine.

Now my question is, once I receive it, if I format it and install Kali Linux on it, will the drivers be recognized or can I use the same Ubunto Drivers that Dell provides or will I run into headaches?

I am taking an online course and it requires Kali Linux

Oh and for the records, I tried installing Kali Linux as a VM on my Eurocom Sky X9 but I had no Wifi connectivity. I also plugged in my ASUS USB-AC56 USB WLAN and it wasn't recognized in Kali Linux so I figured just get a cheap laptop dedicated for Linux only.

 

That's very odd, your Intel card should have worked fine in Linux, Intel WiFi cards are generally the best supported in Linux. Perhaps a newer Linux kernel would have helped.

 

What kind of VM are you using?
For security reason, they don't automatically pass most device access to the VM.
You need to manually allow access from your VM console.

ie. VMware Player add USB devices automatically if and only if USB Hub is enabled, is currently on, and currently have focus.

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The drivers for Linux are embedded in the kernel or if not, usually as a kernel object.
You are forced to update drivers if you use the distro kernel from repo.

Odds are you are more likely get more headaches trying to use the dell drivers unless you know how to compile and link them.

It's not too hard but it is no where close to a double click to install as it in Windows.

 

Well i know for a fact that the Intel 8260 works with Ubuntu.
With Kali you will need kernel 4.1+ to make it work.

Last i checked they were about to roll out 4.1 as a lot of users were complaining about Debian being ahead and some improvements with the latest kernel.

Latest right now is around 4.3 something.

 

hopefully you will make an image of your ssd before you nuke it. clonezilla works good.

 

The XPS developer editions are tuned for Ubuntu, you may be able to get by with installing certain packages from Ubuntu's repos if you notice certain features lacking.

Congrats on the new machine, I'll be interested to hear your experiences and see some pics of it in action

 

The VM is called VM because it's, well, virtual. It doesn't have access to stuff connected to your host. You can't just put in a piece of physical hardware and expect it to work.

VM software usually support forwarding the connection via NAT on an emulated network device. Look into your VM settings. You don't need a dedicated WLAN card.

 

order postponed for a while as I am low on funds at the moment.

Will keep everyone posted.

even on Linux?

 

Clonezilla is a "live" system (there's also a server variant which is irrelevant for your use case) that boots itself. The OS you want to backup/restore won't be running. This is why it can touch OS files without messing up. So as long as the file system you use is supported it will work.

 

Yep all you have to do is boot the clonezilla, but you'll need an external drive, or a drive other than the OS drive to save the image to.

 

@Phoenix Kali runs just fine from USB drive (or microSD in USB adapter, for that matter). No need to waste money/effort installing it on SSD.