Why can't I just buy it without being charged for preinstalled spyware?
Why can't I just buy it without being charged for preinstalled spyware?
Image description:
Shopping for a laptop as a Linux user:
Screenshot from the Simpsons where Otto is talking to Marge and Homer standing next to a window in their house with a caption "Oh wow, windows!... I don't think I can afford this place."
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Not to be that "aktchually" guy, but Microsoft actually ends up paying OEM's to ship with Windows, in order to drive costs down to be more affordable than competitors. You can still reimage with Linux, which I know, is an extra step from it shipping with Linux, but in a wild turn of events, we can thank Microsoft for driving down the prices of our to-be-Linux machines ;)
Have never seen this as a consumer though. I remember buying a laptop 10 years ago without OS since it was cheaper than same model with preinstalled Windows. Checked a random laptop and same still applies, version with Windows costs 30 eur more in my local webshop for what seems to be the same model with same specifications (No English available, use translate if needed):
You can add framework laptops to that list too.
To have windows you pay extra, no os is free
I think that was only true back in the 90s, when there were still other OSes to compete against Windows, like OS/2, Solaris and BeOS late in the decade. Once Microsoft effectively dominated the consumer PC market (2000s?), they turned around to threaten to never do business with OEMs that dared to bundle competitors' OS. They also did something similar in Japan, which destroyed NEC (who created the PC-88 and PC-98, the most popular 80s and early 90s computers there) dominance.
Microsoft is not dominating the PC market like you think they are. Nowadays, if you're in school, and the school tells you to use a computer, it's probably going to be a Chromebook. Google has made it much cheaper for enterprises and schools to afford chromebooks, by giving them deals and building protocols that would specifically be useful in a school or work environment, and in some cases, forcing students/parents to buy Chromebooks specifically. And more rarely, requiring people to use them at work.
Also, I feel like this whole post completely disregards the existence of Chromebooks in general. They're Linux computers. And they're what most of the next generation are learning to use at school, and therefore, what most of them will probably buy when they buy a laptop. You know, assuming they didn't think it was awful.
Nobody is forcing you to buy a computer with Windows pre-installed on it. People just enjoy hating on Windows. And even if it does, it's free additional software. It comes with the computer. You basically can't use Linux without having enough know-how to install it yourself anyway. Just delete Windows. Or is the Linux gang really just looking for every little thing to complain about? I think that's what it is. You guys should spend more time pointing out why Linux should be the status quo, instead of complaining about the current status quo. It gets you nowhere with people who use Windows. So you're essentially just circle jerking your favorite penguin. Why? Windows didn't steal your girl.
I haven't met a Linux user that would consider leaving the factory installed OS instead of immediately blowing it out and installing their own
This route does still count as a Windows sale and you still pay for the license.
So if the manufacturer offers a "no os" option, rather than any Linux option, it's still a better choice than "Windows" if you know you will reimage to something else anyway.