Justice Dept.: Vista satisfies antitrust deal

TalkBack 32 of 78:

Next »

« Previous

• Thread View
• Flat View

Take issue if you want, MS still keeps OEMs inline.

http://www.information-age.com/article/2002/august/dell_risks_wrath_of_microsoft_to_sell_os-free_pcs
But as of 1 August 2002, MS's licensing terms for its hardware partners have stipulated that no PC should ship without an operating system

and since the OEM agreements state that one OS must be Windows, you have the reason Linux on the desktop is not taking off with the OEMs. They MUST pay MS for the OS even if they could pre-install Linux by itself, so a PC with Linux ONLY costs the consumer more than buying it with Windows.

The above article goes on to say that Dell has a plan to include "FreeDos" as the OS (Linux would not be installed) but few major PC vendors have wanted to risk the wrath of Redmond and their ability to ship Windows-equipped PCs, just so they can capitalise on the small market for Linux desktops.

Do you think Linux users are stupid? Dell offered the SAME desktop hardware with Linux pre-installed and it cost $80 more than the same desktop with Windows. Now you know the reason, Dell had to pay MS regardless of whether Windows was actually installed. Yeah, it's a wonder why OEMs don't pre-install Linux and why the market hasn't taken off.

MS veils the new license agreement as a "piracy prevention" agreement, but it is designed to keep the OEMs installing Windows and Windows only.

And yes, MS must work diligently to keep OEMs inline with Windows only, and NO DUAL BOOT ALLOWED. If you could buy a new machine with No OS for $350, with Linux pre-installed for $400 or Vista Cripple Basic for $450, knowing full well you will have to fork out another $99-$199 to get an actually fully functional OS, what would you do? The current OEM agreements mean they always get paid when hardware ships, plain and simple.

TripleII

Posted by: TripleII   Posted on: 11/21/06 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

Alert moderator to an offensive message

Subscribe to this discussion via Email or RSS

SponsoredWhite Papers, Webcasts, and Downloads

• Why Isn't Server Virtualization Saving Us More? A Few Small Changes May Dramatically Increase Your Efficiency VMware Companies have rapidly adopted server virtualization over the past few ... Download Now
• Virtualization: Architectural Considerations And Other Evaluation Criteria VMware Of the many approaches to x86 systems virtualization available in the ... Download Now
• The True Costs of Virtual Server Solutions VMware In an economic environment that is repeatedly heralding the message "do ... Download Now