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New Microsoft contract orders PC manufacturers to stop selling hardware without operating system
Slashdot.org ^ | August 10, 2002

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.

UPDATES

1. 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.



TOPICS: Business/Economy; Technical
KEYWORDS: computers; dell; microsoft; monopoly; pc; techindex; windows
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To: js1138
Funny, I've installed RedHat 7.x on two PowerEdge servers and it was a snap. Worked first time, all hardware auto-detected, no errors.

Your explanation has merit, but only reinforces my point. Linux, due to being easier to install on a server, should have lower costs than an identical server running Windows.

But your explanation has less merit when you realize that you only have to go through the configuration ordeal once. Then you use an image server and the install is automated.

Again, Linux should be cheaper, but it isn't.

221 posted on 08/18/2002 5:58:37 PM PDT by Knitebane
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To: Knitebane
For a large manufacturer, the cost of a product must involve a ratio of sales divided by the cost of the people needed to support the product. Regardless of how easy it is to install Linux, a company like Dell must maintain experts to provide technical support. The number of experts doesn't grow as the same rate as income from sales.

There are countless examples of technological products that become cheaper as sales increase.

222 posted on 08/19/2002 2:15:24 PM PDT by js1138
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