[ale] MS vs Linux on PCs, laptops

[DJ-Pfulio]

System76 too. http://ubuntuforums.org/forumdisplay.php?f=341

Sadly, it is usually cheaper to buy a system with Windows AND all the
crapware which subsidizes the system price.

I've heard of systems that came with Ubuntu and all the audio/wifi
worked for that specific distro + release. When the next release
happened, some drivers were NOT available.

So - if the main reason for getting Linux pre-installed is to ensure
driver support as long as possible - don't think that is true after the
pre-installed release is EOL. The only safe way is to know all the
different chips inside and do research on each for solid kernel support,
sadly.

The lenovos are very popular in the Linux crowd, so that's good.

As to why install Windows - MSFT is really good a making deals with
vendors.  Pre-installed windows gets "counted" by MSFT even if never
used. It is counted on the volume discounts by the vendor. It may be
part of the MSFT discount to install Windows on every shipped "PC" - not
doing so may automatically remove a 20% discount.  For the big boys,
they don't pay anything like we do for a retail copy of Windows - think
more like 25% of that cost - because the license is tied to that
specific BIOS/MB and since Vista has generally refused to install on
anything else.

OTOH, I haven't touch Win8.0 or later, so don't have a clue how those
licenses work or the DRM included to prevent unlicensed installations.



On 09/07/2015 03:56 PM, David Jackson wrote:
> So, does anyone know why somebody like Lenovo includes MS by default on
> their laptops? Is it just because MS will only agree to give them a
> discount if they agree to an exclusive 100%-MS installation on shipped
> devices?
> 
> I bought a laptop from Emperor Linux here in town, and even they had MS
> installed as a dual boot.  It'd be great to just get a laptop without any
> operating system on it, and *not* have to pay for any MS license in the
> process...
> 
> What are the chances of that ever happening I wonder?  :-\
> 
> Dave
> 
>