New Microsoft contract orders PC manufacturers to stop selling hardware without operating system

Slashdot.org ^ | August 10, 2002

[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.

[Mike Fieschko]

This may be a violation of the prior antitrust settlement.

IIRC, that settlement was limited to MS-Windows 95 and 98, not NT, XP, 2000, etc.

[TechJunkYard]

It's certainly a violation with the pending agreement with the DOJ... which hasn't yet been approved by the judge. I do hope someone informs her of this little development.

[HAL9000]

FYI - this AFFECTS all of our competitors as well.

You may have a point. It could be a troll - or maybe Dell doesn't have a proofreader check their announcements.

[TechJunkYard]

For those who wish to install Linux or some other non-Microsoft OS, it can be done easily enough. Just wipe the hard drive clean and install whatever you want.

And resolve to be content with the knowledge that you've once again paid a Microsoft Tax and will never get anything of value for that money.

[HAL9000]

In fact, if the average consumer ever figured out how simple it was, Dell would go under within a week.

This sounds like an interesting project for Anna Nichole Smith.

[Free the USA]

Index Bump

[TomServo]

This sounds like an interesting project for Anna Nichole Smith.

Unfortunately, neither the general consumer nor ANS have figured out how to program their VCR's. Like some folks - I build my own. Got some spare parts lying around and thinking of building another. (Wife groans..)

[amigatec]

Calling the FUD Patrol!!!!!
Calling the FUD Patrol!!!!

Redmond we have a problem...........

[Lockbox]

Just wipe the hard drive clean and install whatever you want.

The point is you are forced to buy Microsoft, even if you are not going to use the operating system.

[Lockbox]

that settlement was limited to MS-Windows 95 and 98, not NT, XP, 2000, etc.

XP = Extra Profit

[pt17]

Don't buy Dell: they are anti-gun. Remember the Jack Weigand incident

Sorry, I'll opt for Dell over Weigand. Dell is a good company that is not anti-gun. One of their people made a mistake and Michael Dell apologized for and corrected it personally. BTW, I have no affiliation with Dell.

[absalom01]

"In fact, if the average consumer ever figured out how simple it was, Dell would go under within a week."

Or maybe not. I've been using Dell for a couple of years now, and have found that Dell often can provide fully assembled boxen for almost exactly the same price I would have to pay for the parts. Add in the cost of the labor, and it's a no-brainer.

For a small business, Dell is a terrific resource (no I don't have any other business relationship with them.)

As for the anti-gun issue, I sent an e-mail to their marketing department when the story broke (you know, the guys who call every few months seeing if there's anything else you need to buy...) , and got a very rapid response quoting Michael Dell's apology, and stating clearly that a low-level employee had made a mistake. If they were trending that way before, I think that their thinking has been fully corrected. (For whatever reason, IT folks tend to let people know their opinions on just about every issue, and also tend to be, shall we say, libertarian in their approach to the second amendment. I reckon that Dell got a real earful over that gaff and that they'll be extra-careful in the future.)

[kitkat]

Sam, that sounds fascinating. Would you give this non-expert an idea of what kind of crap you remove from the store-bought Windows. I'm afraid that if I remove anything, the whole system would crash.

[scab4faa]

ping

[TechJunkYard]

Well, I can tell you that my Toshiba Satellite 2775XDVD had something in it that tried to contact a Toshiba server every minute while it was running.. for what, I don't know and didn't care. I rebuilt the thing the same day I detected this behavior.

[Thud]

My Gateway died three months after the two-year warranty expired. Since then I've bought only from my local dealer.

[cinFLA]

This could be a hoax or a troll.

Consider the source or (more accurately) the lack of a source!

[Thud]

I bought two low-end HP Pavilions for my twin sons when they left for college two years ago, because I had a $2000 budget for two complete systems (monitors, printers, surge protectors, CDRW, Zip, etc.). Staples had a major sale which brought the Pavilions, alone, down to $750 for the pair.

But the suckers came with installation CD's which automatically install a bunch of crappy software plus the required Celeron hardware drivers. I couldn't just install my own OS, or just the HP OS. I had to manually uninstall the crap to free up HD space and system resources.

[medved]

Over the last several years I've been able to put state-of-art computers together for myself, family, and friends for about $600 - $750, excluding monitors, mainly from parts bought at MarketPro shows around the D.C. area. I'm guessing that the little Ma & Pa stores that put systems together have to buy more parts than they need to get good price breaks, and then sell off the excess mother boards, disks etc. etc. at the shows. Flat panel monitors or anything terribly unusual could be bought from pricewatch.com or ebay.

By contrast, the computers I've seen being sold at stores for under $1000 have always appeared to be things which have sat on shelves for a year and a half or more and are not fully up to date.

[Swordmaker]

For those who wish to install Linux or some other non-Microsoft OS, it can be done easily enough. Just wipe the hard drive clean and install whatever you want.

Sam, That is not the point... the point is that even if I want a Linux system I am still required to PAY for a Microsoft OS that I will not need or use.