Replies

This guy eludes to an excellent point. Something which other posters have brought up. With the reduced cost of linux OS's, the linux vendors themselves wouldn't have to provide monies for support, they could charge a similar amount of money for the linux based system and recoup the money in the actual sale.

Fourth paragraph: ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^In practice things could be very different. Potential customers could be very confused (and angry) when they realize that their system is not compatible with Windows, the only operating system they have probably ever used. Also people might be taken aback when they see Dell is seemingly charging a premium for Windows machine. This is of course supposing that Dell could actually lower the price of a Linux system because of it lack of a Windows license. This is possible, over time, but there is a very good chance that the increased support staff and training associated with each additional Linux distribution offered will increase the cost of systems up to or past the price of their Windows counterparts.^^^^^^^^^^^^^

This is unlikely. The first responder to this notes that Dell could mention that "this system not compatible with windows". That would take care of the vast majority of tech calls that Dell would be receiving.

Dell would end up getting around the same true technical calls as Apple gets. Which comparitively, isn't a whole lot. Linux, like macs, don't break that often.(used solely for comparison purposes)

A Linux machine from a top name vendor would be very attractive to many people who have been intrigued by the idea of a LInux machine but are a little reluctant to install it on their main machine. A Dell Dimension WITH Vista OS is selling for $359. If most of the OS price were cut the pricing for a baseline system that is very capable of handling basic Internet tasks gets extremely cheap. When the old system my wife was using for email and web-browsing kicked the bucket, I bought an el cheapo used machine on ebay ($75) and was going to install Linux. I ran into some problems though and ended up loading XP using the license from the dead machine. I still may change it over. Anyhow, a brand new system with a Linux install would probably be faster than a similarly configured Windows machine and also more stable and virus-resistant. As people get increasingly computer-savvy, the fear of switching to something like Linux (especially since I am sure Dell would set things up with a user-friendly interface) will diminish. If Dell were to go this way I would take a close look at Dell stock, as I think it would be a winner in the long run.

Dude do you realize you've been creating threads publicly begging Michael Dell for over a year now on this site for Linux on Dell?

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1592292/posts

Do you realize you also just created at least one other thread about this just in the last few days?

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1800469/posts

Wonder if you'll sleep tonight, LMAO.