December 10 - 4:15pm EST   Dell on Tuesday released specifications of its smallest commercial desktop PC, the OptiPlex 160, which was first introduced as part of a wider Optiplex release back at the end of October. Meant for offices where space is at a premium, basic OptiPlex 160s weigh less than 5lbs and can be mounted on the back of LCD monitors, for example, while being energy-efficient thanks to an advanced, 87-percent efficiency power supply and the use of Intel's Atom processor, the single-core, 1.6GHz N270. A dual-core Atom with the same clock speed is due early in 2009. [full story]

October 28 - 10:35am EDT   Dell today launched a whole new range of workhorse desktops that include some of its most significant redesigns yet. The OptiPlex 960 has a much more industrial, metal design that leaves much of the front to a grill that helps cool the components inside. Combined with newer Intel hardware, this makes some systems as much as 43 percent more power-efficient than their previous generation equivalents and comes with better remote management. [full story]

April 21 - 2:25pm EDT   Dell will keep using Windows XP until as late as 2012, a company representative has reportedly told users. Although Microsoft has said it would discontinue the option for XP this year in all but very low-cost notebooks, the claimed Dell message says the PC creator will continue offering XP Professional until 2012 on all its higher-end business offerings, including the Latitude, Optiplex, and Precision lineups. [full story]