Posted on 08/10/2002 10:30:07 AM PDT by HAL9000
Dell No Longer Selling Systems w/o Microsoft OS
Posted by CmdrTaco on Saturday August 10, @01:17PM
from the yer-bringing-me-down-man dept.Some Sys Admin sent in an email that he got from Dell which basically says Microsoft will no longer allow Dell to sell PCs without an operating system. Please note that Microsoft is not a monopoly, and does not use their monopoly power to squish competition in the market place. The message itself is attached below, and is worth a read, especially the last bit.
UPDATES1. Effective 8/26 - New Microsoft contract rules stipulate that we can no longer offer the "NO OS" option to our customers beyond September 1st. As such all customers currently purchasing a "NO OS" option on either OptiPlex, Precison or Latitude for the express purpose of loading a non-MS OS will have the following options:
1. Purchase a Microsoft OS with each OptiPlex, Precision or Latitude system.
2. For OptiPlex and Precision - purchase one of the new "nSeries" products (offered for GX260, WS340 & WS530 - details in the attached FAQ) that are being created to address a different OS support requirement other than a current standard Microsoft OS.
We must have all "No OS" orders shipped out of the factory by September 1st. The "No OS" legend code and SKUs will be I-coded on 8/19 and D-coded on August 26th to ensure shipment of orders prior to September 1st. FYI - this effects all of our competitors as well.
I'm laughing, but only because I've been there. So I put my stereo and VCR equipment on UPS's, so I don't have to re-program anymore! :-)
Waitaminut! I don't want THAT capacitor, I want the BLUE ONE! Dammit! Dell is forcing me to buy something that I don't want! Hey, get that Matshita floppy outta there! I want a Sony! Hey, what's with that resistor being ceramic??? I want a polymer one!
OK, so where does the "Do it because I'll feel better!" crap stop? You want components of a ysstem??? Well, Microsoft IS a component of a system, and so is Linux, and so is Solaris, and so is Be-OS. Where do YOU get off thinking that you can tell manufacturers what can be contained in their products, how they can be contained, where they can be contained, or WHY they can be contained??? Fact is, they are contained, so take it or leave it. Dell and Microsoft have a mutually beneficial agreement, and your opinion about it doesn't mean squat.
there is no penalty for other OSes.
I don't know if I could paint with that broad a brush. All we know is that some dweeb at Dell felt empowered enough to jack with a guy who does gunsmithing work. There is no evidence that this mindset is endemic at Dell, indeed, there have been no further incidents reported. If Dell was merely fine-tuning their "filter" as suggested above, someone else would've most likely encountered a similar problem and screamed about it. Gun owners are increasingly vocal about such things - we *would* have heard of further transgressions. I suspect we will, if it happens again.
In any case, it is a stretch to compare Dell with Smith & Wesson. Dell is a huge operation, shipping computers by the truckload every day. One customer has had a problem with one a-hole at that company - and the resulting complaints reached the ear of the top man himself. S&W, on the other hand, attempted to buy it's way out of the HUD lawsuits by agreeing to measures which would control every one of their retail dealers like puppets. That is immeasurably worse than anything Dell has done. Like you, I won't own a new Smith & Wesson. Despite the "new" company's calming statements, the agreement lives - and will be revived by the next administration which is hostile towards gun owners. As for Dell - we're all watching them - and they know it.
Veering back on topic, it seems the Wal-Mart "naked" MicroTel systems caught Gates' attention, huh?
"No OS" IS an OS... It's called the BIOS. :-)
If Dell offered that option, then yeah, I'd specify the components I'd want. But why are you injecting nonsense into this?
Dell OFFERED naked PCs. If Dell OFFERED PCs where you could specify your own components, then some might take Dell up on that.
So you're having problems admitting that in the past, Dell has OFFERED customers naked PCs. Well, sorry, but they did. Until you are willing to admit that Dell has a wide variety of products (as they are the manufacturer) one of which INCLUDES a NAKED PC, then we can't proceed.
This is not about forcing Dell to do something it is not offering, this is taking Dell up on one of the products that they OFFER to the consumer.
Your satellite receiver analogy is weak and irrelevant to the issue we're discussing. You might as well complain that your floppy disk drive requires floppy disks and won't play DVDs.
Dell computers are general purpose devices that do not have any physical design limitations which would prevent them from shipping with no operating system installed.
The reason the OEMs are buckling on the "naked PC" issue is because - figuratively - Microsoft has a gun to their heads. They would be happy to sell naked PCs - but if they do, Microsoft will raise the price of their Windows OEM license to the point where they can't compete with manufacturers who capitulate to extortion.
And this behavior has already been declared illegal . Microsoft has already signed a consent decree saying they would not do this.
I always thought so, too. ;-)
Searched for this information, did not find. My best guess would be between $40 to $65 per copy to the major computer manufacturers.
Excuse me, but Dell does have a choice, just as they have a choice to make their cases out of aluminum or steel. The market does not coerce, extort or compel, it merely selects products that meet some fleeting standard of acceptability.
As for the "Microsoft Tax", let's do some arithmetic. The going price for OEM XP, Home Edition is about $100. Dell probably gets it for $30. If you build your own computers from components, as I regularly do, you know it costs more than buying a ready-made system with Windows pre-installed, reformatting and installing Linux.
It is not possible to say that Microsoft is taxing you. If Windows, or some equally popular OS did not exist, Dell would not be able to sell the volume of computers that allows it to sell the package cheaply.
That has nothing to do with the fact that Dell was offering naked PCs to customers who wished to purchase them
Ah.. the verdict-- which has already been affirmed by the Appealate court. Maybe you're confusing the remedy "break up Microsoft" to the finding "guilty". The remedy was thrown out . The finding of guilt has been affirmed in the appealate court.
In case you missed it, here's a brief history:
Sorry, buts its been PROVEN in a court of law that Microsoft is GUILTY (twice, actually)
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