I bought a Dell Dimension N-Series in 2007 that came with FreeDOS. It is my understanding that Microsoft signed discount deals with PC makers that required them

I bought a Dell Dimension N-Series in 2007 that came with FreeDOS. It is my understanding that Microsoft signed discount deals with PC makers that required them to sell all their computers with an operating system (no bare hardware) and this was a way to meet the requirement. The Wikipedia article seems to have the same impression: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dell_n_Series https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dell_n_Series