I definitely think that Dell is in a tough position in that they must protect themselves against customers that are dumb enough to choose an operating system th

I definitely think that Dell is in a tough position in that they must protect themselves against customers that are dumb enough to choose an operating system that they don't want. I disagree with your suggestion to buy the Windows version if it's cheaper. It's frustrating to me to see the $1000 Windows laptop marked down to $900 and the Linux one be sold at the original price of $930. I want to buy the Linux version for $830, not the Windows one for $900 :) In truth, the first thing I would do after buying a Dell Laptop with Linux installed is wipe it clean and install Linux with the settings that I prefer. So the value of the preinstalled Linux for me is really just that I know that the hardware is all supported under Linux and I'm not paying for an OS that I don't want.