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I'm actually surprised this hasn't happened in US more. There has to be more to that story than just retailers not wanting Ubuntu on laptops, when they could sa
by devx 13y ago
I'm actually surprised this hasn't happened in US more. There has to be more to that story than just retailers not wanting Ubuntu on laptops, when they could save their customers at least $100 on the machines. It's also strange that in many other countries retailers would still sell you machines with FreeDOS (to save customers money), but not with Ubuntu or other Linux distros, since FreeDOS is all but useless.
My guess is Microsoft is coercing both OEM's and retailers somehow, and if they really have to sell the machines without Windows, then they want them to at least sell them without a real OS on them, that their customers might actually begin to use as it is.
- frank_boyd 13y ago> My guess is Microsoft is coercing both OEM's and retailers somehow Talk to any of the market insiders, that's exactly what has been happening for decades now.
- unsignedint 13y agoAnd it actually has been "improved" from back than as well. If I remember correctly, Microsoft used to prohibit OEM having lines of computers other than Windows to qualify as OEM.
- Eiwatah4 13y agoI think it might be a support thing. They don't want people to return the computer because they couldn't figure out how to do simple task X with the OS on the computer, or because an update broke the proprietary drivers required for some hardware. Retailers don't have the resources to fix these problems, or to help fixing them. They don't have to if the customer installed their OS of choice themselves.
- beagle3 13y agoThere's microsoft's pressure on one hand, and the preinstalled crap (for which vendors pay retailers) which moves most of the direct cost away from both retailers and users. If you buy a laptop from the Microsoft store, you can pay a little more for "signature" which is ... Crap free windows. Directly from Microsoft. For an additional payment. I kid you not.
- ZanyProgrammer 13y agoI think that's standard on all Microsoft store laptops, and from what I've seen, they are constantly on sale, much cheaper than Frys, etc.
- beagle3 13y agoWhen I bought my Lenovo 3 years ago, it was $80 extra. I didn't even check what it was - I was going to run Linux anyway. When the box arrived with he sticker "with signature" I almost called to complain that I asked for nothing extra. But I first checked, and saw that thy didn't charge me for it. And also that it was removal of crapware, rather than something additional.
- ZanyProgrammer 13y agoI think your info is a bit out of date-did brick and mortar MS stores even exist then? Seriously, I don't like MS that much, but I wish people would get their facts straight.
- beagle3 13y agoPerhaps it is out of date; they did try to charge me $80 to remove crap in March 2011 (so, 2.5 years ago). It was from the online store - but I believe the brick and mortar stores already existed.
- qwerta 13y agoOEM gets money from crapware preinstalled on Windows. Also OEM Windows license costs peanuts, so computer without Windows can be actually more expensive.
- netcan 13y agoWhen the original Eee came out (and started the concept of netbooks) it was pre-installed with Linux. XP was being discontinued and the Windows tax was a big deal at that pricepoint. Vista was a disaster and couldn't really run well on the Eee's basic specs. People where bringing the things back.