When I buy a linux server at work, or one of those Linux Dells home machine (not sure if they're still around - I got this end of last year), I feel like I get

When I buy a linux server at work, or one of those Linux Dells home machine (not sure if they're still around - I got this end of last year), I feel like I get a raw commodity. I wipe whatever crap the idiot manufacturer put on it, install my OS on it with ease, and then it does what I want for the rest of time. Server or desktop. Or both if I want. Multi-user from that moment, apt-get takes care of my problems. When I buy a mac it's about the same. It's a little harder to get new packages and some of the unix decisions are brainless but it's better with drivers. The commodity feel is not remotely the case with Windows. The manufacturer may have left all sorts of crap over the install (toolbars and the like). I'll need to download or even buy a bunch of stuff to get it to do stuff that for a geek is basic (a pdf viewer and all of them stink, expandrive to be able to mount drives effectively, virus protection in case I get compromised but this makes my system less nice to use, putty so I can get to a real console). It doesn't come with anything approaching an adequate text editor or basic development tools. If it's a reinstall on a Dell the driver situation is very painful, and product activation might require me to make phone calls.