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.
You are welcome to submit your comments to the court and even to file your own suite, but guessing at what I know, I'd say you'd might as well write Santa Clause.
Is the above supposed to be an example of Microsoft technical excellence? Or perhaps of the great security features in its products????
http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/15/13.html
Sec. 13. - Discrimination in price, services, or facilities
(a) Price; selection of customers
It shall be unlawful for any person engaged in commerce, in the course of such commerce, either directly or indirectly, to discriminate in price between different purchasers of commodities of like grade and quality, where either or any of the purchases involved in such discrimination are in commerce, where such commodities are sold for use, consumption, or resale within the United States or any Territory thereof or the District of Columbia or any insular possession or other place under the jurisdiction of the United States, and where the effect of such discrimination may be substantially to lessen competition or tend to create a monopoly in any line of commerce, or to injure, destroy, or prevent competition with any person who either grants or knowingly receives the benefit of such discrimination, or with customers of either of them: Provided, That nothing herein contained shall prevent differentials which make only due allowance for differences in the cost of manufacture, sale, or delivery resulting from the differing methods or quantities in which such commodities are to such purchasers sold or delivered: Provided, however, That the Federal Trade Commission may, after due investigation and hearing to all interested parties, fix and establish quantity limits, and revise the same as it finds necessary, as to particular commodities or classes of commodities, where it finds that available purchasers in greater quantities are so few as to render differentials on account thereof unjustly discriminatory or promotive of monopoly in any line of commerce; and the foregoing shall then not be construed to permit differentials based on differences in quantities greater than those so fixed and established: And provided further, That nothing herein contained shall prevent persons engaged in selling goods, wares, or merchandise in commerce from selecting their own customers in bona fide transactions and not in restraint of trade: And provided further, That nothing herein contained shall prevent price changes from time to time where in response to changing conditions affecting the market for or the marketability of the goods concerned, such as but not limited to actual or imminent deterioration of perishable goods, obsolescence of seasonal goods, distress sales under court process, or sales in good faith in discontinuance of business in the goods concerned.
It simple when MS offers a discount to any OEM because they DON'T offer a 'Naked PC' it is ILLEGAL.
What part of ILLEGAL do you not understand?
As I have always posted before, if Ford can support at least 5 different motors, then why can't Dell support 2 or 3 different OS's??
I didn't tell you that in these 5 trucks were 4 different brands of Transmissions, and 3 different Brands of Rearends.
But I guess when you do business with a Monopoly you have to do business their way.
Ford doesn't have that problem!!!
It's not even hard to do. In fact, if the average consumer ever figured out how simple it was, Dell would go under within a week.
I think this is a rather simplistic answer, especially for a business application. I just left a job where I did computer support, in addition to my regular duties. I found that it was easier to order a Dell configured the way I wanted it, rather then spend the time to order the parts and build it. Actually, it was simple economics - I billed out at $80 per hour. I used to work at another company where I did the same things and I built the computers. The time wasted was not worth while-even though it was fun.
Since I have left, I am setting up an income tax preparation service out of my home and I ordered a Dell. I just don't have the time to fiddle with building my own (even though I enjoy doing that).
The PC maker [Dell] next month will introduce n-Series corporate desktop and workstations that ship without Microsoft's Windows, or any other operating system, pre-installed.
Now I know you've only got 1 brain cell between you, and this one is a toughie-- but maybe you might be able to figure it out. (I know its a challenge).. Dell is offering NAKED PCs with a FREE OS in the box .. because ... THERE IS A DEMAND for it!!! Guess what? There is a DEMAND for non-Microsoft systems, and guess what, that demand is growing!!! There was enough of a demand that Dell figured out a way around the illegal M$ restriction. Doing battle in the world of commerce is a lot easier than in a court of law ... (faster, too)
Dell has been shipping PCs without operating systems to its largest customers for some time, offering them a limited number of models of Optiplex and Precision machines.
All your ranting and raving and you're still wrong.. hehehehehehe
NEXT MONTH= September, 2002.
To read the news article, click on the link.
N-series PCs will cost the same as PCs that ship with Windows, a Dell representative said.
I would like to know why Dell doesn't discount the computers that ship w/o an OS. Is this part of their OEM contract with MS?... Or is Dell just bucking for the "MS buttboy of the year" award?
Go to the Dell site and use their configuration system to configure identical servers with Windows and with Linux.
The Linux system, while identical in every way, costs more.
This, of course, is not proof, merely evidence. It is impossible for anyone but insiders at Dell and Microsoft to know for certain, due to NDAs that keep the public from knowing the contents of licenses, even after the license period has passed.
Courts, of course, can bypass these NDAs, so the proof will come out during this trial.
My information comes under the ivy bush from a Dell insider. I can offer no definitive proof at this time, though there is plenty of evidence out there for those that want to find it.
I would like to know why Dell doesn't discount the computers that ship w/o an OS
The 1994 consent decree signed by Microsoft allowed Dell to do what it wanted with its own hardware without any interference from M$. However, M$ has recently decided to "clarify" any potential "loopholes" in the consent decree which of course had the nett effect of dictating to Dell what Dell could or could not do with its own systems that did not involve M$. So, Dell struck back and is returning to the policy of shipping systems without an installed OS. Dell just flipped M$ the bird.
This could be explained by relative manufacturing costs. I'd be willing to bet that the cost of an OS is less than the cost of installing it. The greater quantity of Windows shipments would dilute the cost of paying techies to obtain and test hardware drivers -- this is sometimes a problem when machines boot from state-of-the-art scsi controllers. I have installed the OS on several DELL servers, and it can be a pain getting them to boot for the first time. NT and 2000 have a "F6 to install drivers" option when you are installing the OS, but this sometimes doesn't work with Dell drivers.
...and that shows that Microsoft's claims of security for passport are a humongous lie.
Don't buy Dell: they are anti-gun. Remember the Jack Weigand incident.True. It never made sense to begin with. Michael Dell has been outspoken in his belief that one of the most important players in the computer revolution was Ronald Reagan.I thought Dell did a good job apologizing for that incident and going the extra mile to try and make ammends for it.
-Eric
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