4 ms·
> as long as they aren't forced to pay the nasty Windows tax. It is much simpler just not to ship any OS to customers that want to avoid the Microsoft tax (ind
by wolfgke 10y ago
> as long as they aren't forced to pay the nasty Windows tax.
It is much simpler just not to ship any OS to customers that want to avoid the Microsoft tax (indeed some vendors sell PCs without any installed OS - in particular for enterprise customers; I also). This has the advantage that they don't have to provide support to customers that are using the installed GNU/Linux distribution.
But note that avoiding the "Microsoft tax" will save you much less money, since Microsoft has contracts with large PC vendors that gets them Windows licenses even much cheaper than the "System Builder" version. Slightly exaggerated: The Windows license that they install is "nearly free" for them. So even if they offer a PC without OS, the price will not drop by a lot (if any) for the simple reason that large PC producers hardly have to pay any "Microsoft tax".
- herbst 10y agoIts not about the amount. Its a more idealistic value (for me at least) i simply dont want windows and will buy the worse hardware for more money even if i can avoid owning windows.
- shmerl 10y ago> it is much simpler just not to ship any OS to customers that want to avoid the Microsoft tax Simpler yes, but it would undermine MS monopolistic control. That's why MS force manufacturers not to sell such computers. Their leverage is simple. If they would sell such, MS would raise the price of Windows for them. Most give in to blackmail. See https://web.archive.org/web/20150714080353/http://www.justice.gov/atr/cases/f3800/msjudgex.htm#iiie https://web.archive.org/web/20150714080353/http://www.justic...
- marvy 10y agoIs that still true today? I think these days it's possible to buy a computer with no OS preinstalled from some manufacturers. It might even be slightly cheaper than the identical model with Windows. (Of course, only select models, etc.)
- shmerl 10y agoFrom some very obscure ones, may be. Not from any major ones however. Try buying a Dell without any OS. Or some other major brand.
- marvy 10y agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dell_n_Series https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dell_n_Series
- shmerl 10y agoWhere are they on their site? Besides, why isn't it an option on all their models? Admittedly, Dell have some models with even Linux pre-installed. But since it's only a small subset, it doesn't help boosting Linux adoption. And others are even worse than that. Try Lenovo.
- marvy 10y agohey, I never said the situation is good, just that it's better than the worst possible situation.
- scholia 10y agoAn extra point is that OEMs charge to distribute third-party software, which is usually called crapware. If you install a lot of crapware, you can reduce the cost of Windows close to zero. That's why OEMs do it even though users don't like it. If one of your users subscribes to the bundled AV software then you can make a recurring income from Windows that can be larger than the profit you made on the hardware. Offering Linux as well as Windows just increases costs. There's the extra hardware qualification, sourcing drivers etc, extra stock-keeping and distribution costs, and extra advertising costs. You may have to do that across dozens of languages for over 100 countries. Ad costs can be significant because Microsoft and Intel provide advertising support, discounts or kickbacks for including phrases like "MightyCorp recommends Windows 10" in your adverts. Microsoft isn't going to pay out if your ad includes Linux. If you survive that, you have to survive the cost of support and/or returns. When your user base has a vague idea how to use Windows, and zero idea of how to use Linux, that's a killer. One "support incident" kills any profits from at least five sales.
- shmerl 10y agoAll this is a poor excuse for perpetuating monopoly, which should be simply illegal.
- marvy 10y agoThe thing that should be illegal is the kind of secret deals that MS makes with PC manufacturers; see this for example: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2002/02/20/be_inc_sues_microsoft/ http://www.theregister.co.uk/2002/02/20/be_inc_sues_microsof...