Linux laptop and Microsoft rebate

[Richard Spandit]

Want to ditch Windows for my next laptop, without having to go for a Mac. I like using Linux, but all laptops seem to come with Windows pre-installed, for which you are charged. Are there any places you can buy new laptops without Windows installed, or has anyone managed to get a refund? UK sources, please.

[Mac the Knife]

http://www.linuxemporium.co.uk/products/laptops/

:ok:

[Richard Spandit]

Thanks for that - looks very promising!

[seacue]

You may be paying a lot less for MS Windows than you think. The tiny non-profit where I volunteer is paying something like US$40 or 50 for XP Professional. I didn't negotiate the deal, but it's real, honest-to-goodness, legal XP including CD. I have no idea what one goes through to get a deal like this.

I think this is some indication of the sort of price that the hardware people pay for XP.

You may not like the thought of paying even US$40 or so to MS, but it isn't a huge sum. [Unless you're MS and sell millions of copies.]

Perhaps it is a little like the old days when Kodak practically gave away cameras it order to sell film. MS see their profits in add-ons and a low-ball OEM Windows price could keep the Linux wolf at bay.

[Mac the Knife]

$40 is not unusual as a deal for bundled XP Pro, tho list prices vary from $166-323 from vendors (MS sells it at $299).

Bear in mind that all you get for this is an OS, a mediocre browser, an insecure email client, a cut-down word processor and no support. You do get a licence, but it removes most of your rights......

When vendors contract with MS, the stipulation is that in exchange for reduced prices on XP, they don't support other OSes and all PCs MUST leave with a copy of XP on them (no bare boxes).

It's a bit difficult to work out equivalent Linux pricings because so much is free (just ask Canonical and they'll send you as many CDs of Ubuntu as you want gratis), but SuSE Linux 10 with 90-days support and all the manuals and CDs will cost you about $60 (of course you can download the core ISO for free).

Your $60 gets you the OS, 90-days support, all the manuals, and hundreds of applications, including office suites (KOffice and OpendOffice), browsers, mail clients, web servers, CD burners and etc., etc., etc....

And you're free to duplicate it, modify it, download new bits for it, sell it, bend it, break it and generally do what you like with it under the GPL.

Sure, Linux isn't yet as smooth (?) as XP and you might have to occasionally hunt around a bit and (gasp!) even learn a bit, but it seems pretty clear where the advantage lies right now.

[Richard Spandit]

I was thinking of changing to Ubuntu, but think I will stick with SuSE, as I'm more familiar with KDE/Yast etc. Did a Google search for "Ubuntu vs SuSE" and found a great site where someone had installed both on a Dell laptop - nice to see that all of the features were working - when I first started with Linux, getting the sound card to play anything was a major ordeal...