Dell offers an alternative to Windows . . .

Shackley

Shackley

Shackley

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Dell has chosen Ubuntu as the operating system for its range of Linux computers for consumers. BBC Link
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It has certainly taken them long enough, but it does sound like a negotiating ploy . . . does anyone have any idea what Microsoft has done to upset Dell?
 
Nothing at all, dell have a website where users can say what they want to see dell do, high on the list was an alternative to windows.
 
Shackley said:
It has certainly taken them long enough, but it does sound like a negotiating ploy . . . does anyone have any idea what Microsoft has done to upset Dell?
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Think Dell just wanted to offer their customers the choice. This also means the computers with Ubuntu on them will be a tad cheaper. I reckon Dell have agreed that £5 or £10 for every Dell PC with Ubuntu on it will go to the Ubuntu people.

Plus Michael Dell runs Ubuntu on his laptop at home. Funnily enough its also a Dell. Bet he got a good price for that.;)
 
*pushes linux into the mainstream*

I think I might have a look at how many of the bells and whistles of my new Pavilion Ubuntu supports :D I don't think a built in webcam and special media remote will go down too well tbh :p
 
Nice one... choice has returned to the mainstream market place after years of Microsoft's monopoly... but didn't they have a clause in their licensing agreement whereby retailers weren't allowed to offer alternatives? Or was that just offering a choice of operating system in a dual-boot system? I recall BeOS suffered because of it.

(Ahhhhh. BeOS. Lovely BeOS. Actually, Ubuntu reminds me of BeOS... if only I could have the option of having a yellow tab on my windows)

Though I guess anybody could choose to install Ubuntu or any other flavour of Linux or indeed any other OS after their purchase, its pretty reasonable to resent having to pay for an OS they don't want, especially when they couldn't reinstall it if they changed their minds as most manufacturers don't seem to include OS disks any more, just a 'restore partition'. Shocking! I remember the first PC I bought came with a complete boxed copy of Windows 95 with manual and everything. Mind you, that was a **** hot Pentium II 266mhz with 64mb of RAM, 4gb disk, a CD-ROM and 14" monitor... that cost me over £1200.

Choice of operating system and what goes into my PC is one of the reasons why I went over to building my own systems.

I recently returned a Dell Inspiron 6400 in the first few days of ownership because (a) the DVD drive sounded like a drill and had multiple read errors and (b) Vista really sucks the big one.

In response Dell offered to (a) send me a replacement drive and (b) sent me a link to their online store where I could buy a copy of XP. The cheeky gits! Needles to say I opted for (c) take the darn thing away and give me me money back. Ta!
 
martianrobot said:
Though I guess anybody could choose to install Ubuntu or any other flavour of Linux or indeed any other OS after their purchase, its pretty reasonable to resent having to pay for an OS they don't want, especially when they couldn't reinstall it if they changed their minds as most manufacturers don't seem to include OS disks any more, just a 'restore partition'.
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Didn't some guy last year force Microsoft or Dell to refund him the cost of Windows XP because he'd bought a Dell PC but wasn't using XP. He sent the CD and licence key back as proof and signed some piece of paper to declare he'd uninstalled Windows. Microsoft or Dell then actually sent him a cheque for £55 ish. Important for two reasons, one he proved you could get money back but also we found out how much we are charged for having an OS pre-installed.

Yeah, found it. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6144782.stm
 
MarcLister said:
Didn't some guy last year force Microsoft or Dell to refund him the cost of Windows XP because he'd bought a Dell PC but wasn't using XP. He sent the CD and licence key back as proof and signed some piece of paper to declare he'd uninstalled Windows. Microsoft or Dell then actually sent him a cheque for £55 ish. Important for two reasons, one he proved you could get money back but also we found out how much we are charged for having an OS pre-installed.

Yeah, found it. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6144782.stm
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Nice one. Takes a Sheffield bloke to cut through the MS BS! It'll be reet!

(don't know why I didn't think of it at the time... probably too busy looking out my window at all the cranes turning Sheff into the yuppy nightmare Leeds has become)
 
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MarcLister said:
Didn't some guy last year force Microsoft or Dell to refund him the cost of Windows XP because he'd bought a Dell PC but wasn't using XP. He sent the CD and licence key back as proof and signed some piece of paper to declare he'd uninstalled Windows. Microsoft or Dell then actually sent him a cheque for £55 ish. Important for two reasons, one he proved you could get money back but also we found out how much we are charged for having an OS pre-installed.

Yeah, found it. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6144782.stm
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I bet dell aren't charged £55 ;).
 
The monopoly is broken then. Dell are already in far too much trouble to be held at gunpoint by another company.

MS's habit of forcing through a new OS every 4 years or less is a huge headache for businesses, and by proxy, companies like Dell.

Ubuntu is free, so many customers will happily go for the cheaper option, particularly businesses.

Unless MS jump on the band wagon and start listening to their own customers I think this is the start of a major shift in IT.
 
MarcLister said:
Didn't some guy last year force Microsoft or Dell to refund him the cost of Windows XP because he'd bought a Dell PC but wasn't using XP. He sent the CD and licence key back as proof and signed some piece of paper to declare he'd uninstalled Windows. Microsoft or Dell then actually sent him a cheque for £55 ish. Important for two reasons, one he proved you could get money back but also we found out how much we are charged for having an OS pre-installed.

Yeah, found it. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6144782.stm
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In theory we can all do this provided we do not use the installed OS, it is in the EULA, if you read it. In practice, it is more difficult I suspect.
 
AJUK said:
In theory we can all do this provided we do not use the installed OS, it is in the EULA, if you read it. In practice, it is more difficult I suspect.
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Yup. I think the guy in the article I linked to just chose "No" on the EULA or whatever on his PC. This would presumably caused chaos on his PC.

But yeah if Windows is on your PC pre-installed then theoretically we can exercise a right to not use it.

Course the big companies don't want us to do this, know our rights or exercise them.
 
The best thing about that XP refund thing is that Dell never asked for the media back.

Really there should be an option whether the purchase XP or not. I guess it is down the to contacts Dell and Microsoft have and also the amount of money dell could lose in not putting XP on by default.
 
JonRohan said:
The best thing about that XP refund thing is that Dell never asked for the media back.

Really there should be an option whether the purchase XP or not. I guess it is down the to contacts Dell and Microsoft have and also the amount of money dell could lose in not putting XP on by default.
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So you could choose from No OS, XP Home, XP Pro, Vista Home etc etc?

Yeah I'd agree with that.
 
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