Dell's "Project Sputnik" is the formalization of an open source software and cloud services pilot project offered to software developers. The company plans to produce an official Dell XPS 13 developer laptop preloaded with Ubuntu 12.04LTS. Dell will supply specific "developer profiles" for creating internet and mobile applications, with initial profiles being supplied for JavaScript, Android, and Ruby on Rails. Those profiles will be stored in an cloud-based "github repository"

Software developers must still purchase the XPS 13 from Dell, and a limited number of them will be offered a somewhat discounted price on a beta version of that laptop. Years ago, Dell was the first large computer maker to ship an Ubuntu Linux PC.

Software included on the specially prepared units will provide application developers with the ability to simulate a proper, at-scale cloud environment by creating "micro-clouds" on the developers' laptops, followed by the option to distribute that environment to the internet cloud.

Nnamdi Orakwue, executive sponsor of the Dell incubation program and executive assistant to Michael Dell, said: “Project Sputnik is a great example of the employee-driven innovation we built Dell’s incubation program to enable. This project represents the first of many new ideas Dell employees will test with customers or partners through the program, and we look forward to supporting Sputnik to be successful as it becomes a product this fall.”

Vanguard TV3, in 1957, was the United States' response to the Soviet Union's Sputnik 1. Vanguard TV3 exploded during launch.