__/ [ Nigel Feltham ] on Friday 28 July 2006 23:51 \__
> peterwn wrote:
>
>> 7 wrote:
>>
>>> Dell may yet find ways to harm Linux and AMD.
>>> My guess is that Dell$ is in league with micoshaft all the way
>>> claiming desktops are not selling and then withdrawing
>>> desktops from markets while at the same time making huge
>>> inroads into server market,
>>
>> My feeling runs the other way. I think that Dell would love to throw
>> off the thralls of Microsoft but is not quite in a position to do this
>> just yet. These 'Dell recommends Windows XP' backhanders are just too
>> lucrative for Dell at present for Dell to spit into Microsoft's eye -
>> they also have to watch out for that chair.
>
> Yes those '... recommends Windows XP' backhanders are getting really
> annoying.
Those slogans are a form of brainwash. How can I sway my
mother towards Linux where everywhere she goes (even off
'Microsoft turf') all she sees are mutual 'recommendation'
that are rather consistent, too? These contracts for
recommendation are there for a reason. The reason is not the
OEM's motive/s.
> A couple of weeks ago I was browsing Packard Bell's website looking for
> specs of a couple of their models of PC. Yes I know they're not the best of
> brands - my father's PC got zapped in a recent storm and the insurance was
> paid out in vouchers for PC World and at value of the payout the only
> choice was Packard bell intel or packard bell AMD (or lower spec compaq -
> half the RAM and disk space).
>
> Every page of the site has 'Packard Bell recommends Windows® XP
> Professional' yet after a lot of browsing I've yet to find a single PC on
> their site that's supplied with Pro, they all come with either Home or
> Media centre.
>
> How can a company recommend a system they don't actually supply unless
> they've been paid to display the advertising.
>
> The site is http://www.packardbell.com/ if anyone wants to take the
> challenge of finding a system that has their recommended OS installed.
Packard Bell sell junk that I will never consider again. I
bought a computer from them when I was about 12 and it
developed one hardware problem after another. It didn't have
Windows 3.11 at the time, but only some graphical PB-ware
(e.g. applications menu). Eventually we sold it to my
friend's brother, which was a case of good riddance. Judging
by PB's status and sales this day, they could not have
improved much since. Actually, I am surprised they still
exist because several years ago I heard about bankruptcy, I
think.
> Laughably they even have a page to explain it
>
http://support.packardbell.com/uk/item/index.php?i=topic_02427&pi=platform_dragon_gt
>
> So it looks like they only supply the versions of XP they don't recommend
> and the one they do is an optional extra that needs to be bought elsewhere
> (and the article even states that there is no extra value in the pro
> version for most home users - which I'm guessing is probably 95% of their
> customer base as they don't supply a business range of machines).
>
> Just to get back to the group charter - yes the new PC will be made
> dual-boot, with Mandriva - same as his previous PC was until it blew up,
> although he's reluctant to install anything while new PC is under warranty
> so it will probably end up running Mandrive from an external USB 2.0 drive.
> He's had too much experience with fighting Windows Malware (with ME and
> Win2k at home and XP at work) to risk using this on the web and knows I'll
> only assist with problems on the Linux side.
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