4 ms·

Apologies for asking but how does a company like MS steal thousands from you? Enterprise SW?

• tinymollusk 9y ago
  Time spent re-installing Windows? At least with linux, you got some command line skills (back in the day).
• oceanghost 9y ago
  Perhaps before your time, MS was a monopoly and you literally couldn't buy a computer without paying them, whether it ran windows or not. They sold crap at premium prices. They forced computer companies to pay a DOS/Windows license for each machine MADE, not if it ran their OS. The used dirty tricks to sink their competitors, stole ideas, products, etc. They were the original bastards of the tech industry. I have hated them since I was a kid...in the 80s. This Simpsons scene summarizes things nicely: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H27rfr59RiE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H27rfr59RiE https://www.wired.com/2008/06/gates-monopoly/ https://www.wired.com/2008/06/gates-monopoly/
  • anyfoo 9y ago
    The part where you "literally couldn't buy a computer without paying them" is simply not true. I bought a lot of computers and computer parts at the time, and probably the only time I "had" to pay for an MS license was when buying a laptop. (But I got that one used, at a much cheaper price, on eBay, so...) You are vastly exaggerating.
    • GordonS 9y ago
      Exaggerating, but not vastly - it really did used to be quite difficult to buy a computer that didn't have Windows pre-installed.
  • pera 9y ago
    It's still pretty difficult to find a laptop without Windows. I had paid about a thousand dollars of OEM licenses that I didn't want and never used. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bundling_of_Microsoft_Windows https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bundling_of_Microsoft_Windows
• shabda 9y ago
  I have bought about 10+ machines which has windows pre-installed, but I immediately wiped to install Linux. At 50$/OEM license, thats about 500$ I have lost. Not sure I would classify that as stealing, but some people do. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bundling_of_Microsoft_Windows#The_%22Windows_tax%22 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bundling_of_Microsoft_Windows#...
• gramstrong 9y ago
  I accidentally left a (mostly) empty application service running on Azure for about 7 months on their Pay-As-You-Go plan. I racked up over $500 in charges that I didn't know about, and I felt robbed. In reality, I'm just kinda dumb.
  • GFischer 9y ago
    Wasn't there a way to contact them and ask for a rebate or something? They can be understanding of that kind of stuff.