__/ [ Troy1of2 ] on Friday 18 August 2006 06:37 \__
>
> Tim Smith wrote:
>> In article <1155865165.906246.292850@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
>> Troy1of2 wrote:
>> > Say you're the head of an IT department for a small company and you're
>> > trying to talk the boss into using Linux on 20 computer's he's about to
>> > buy for the company. Now if you could compare the two side by side on a
>> > level playing field Linux would have a huge cost advantage over Windows
>> > which would be a great selling point to win the boss over. But as things
>> > stand now, at most places, when he buys these 20 computers they are
>> > going to come with Windows pre-installed on them anyway and the price of
>> > the computers is going to include the cost of Windows so there goes the
>> > software cost advantage of going with Linux. Now, add to that the extra
>> > time required to format the drives and install Linux and the boss is
>> > going to say, well, we might as well go with the OS that is already on
>> > the computers. Hence, Microsoft has a lock on the market that is very
>> > difficult to budge.
>>
>> Or you buy the computers from a place that pre-installs Linux. Problem
>> solved.
>
> I'm all for that, If I could only find a place that does it for less
> than the price of a comparable computer with Windows installed. Like I
> said before, so far all of the places I've checked with that are
> selling laptops with Linux pre-installed have prices which average $200
> to $300 more than a similar laptop from Dell with Windows included. But
> I'm still looking...
Interesting read, Troy. You explained it all perfectly, but one point I would
like to add is that Microsoft can brag about selling Windows to merely
everyone. This leads to a false impression of demand as the count get only
judged by the original offers, even if Windows gets purged. This doesn't
only affect vanity figures and confuses the customer. This also confuses the
seller (OEM), which falls victim the impression that everyone is fine and
dandy with Windows XP. It's a cyclic trap -- a deadlock. Any fair trade
panel should be able to see this.
And speaking of such stories, Lenovo _clearly_ said that it would preinstall
SLED 10 on its laptops. The following day (having got a call from Microsoft,
I'm sure) it somehow argued that there was a mistake.
While we're at it, here is what Novell's CEO had to say some months ago.
,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft Corp is using scare tactics to exert pressure on PC vendors
| not to explore the potential of desktop Linux, according to Novell
| Inc president and COO, Ron Hovsepian
`----
http://www.commentwire.com/article_news.asp?guid=2044AB5A-59CA-4EC3-AD3F-73DF7BC4F8E0
(link now broken)
Best wishes,
Roy
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