The software on your computer is also a SERVICE. You dont own it. All you have purchased, is the right to use it. You cant modify it, you cant even look at the source code. Read the EULA on Microsoft's software, and it is spelled out right there in black and white. It remains their property, and if you dont abide by the EULA(End User Licence Agreement), they can legally take it BACK from you, just like a Cable vendor can turn you off, whether you pay or not.
And...It IS the same thing from a Distributer/Supplier perspective regardless of product or service. The point is that it is LEGAL for these entities to enter into these types of deals, because you are NOT forced to purchase their products in the first place.
You can go and build a computer yourself, if you want, and have no Dell or Microsoft components in it. Therefore, Dell and Microsoft are legally entitled to make deals in their interest.
You dont have to like it, but that is reality, my friend.
I don't want the software. I want a naked PC. Hardware only. No software. Dell did have a policy of making "naked PCs". Now, if I buy a naked PC from Dell, I owe M$ a royalty. Explain to me how I owe M$ anything, when I haven't acquired any M$ licenses, and have just walked away with a hardware box -- a commodity. Again, how does M$ have the right to interject itself into a negotiation between me and Dell when M$ was not party to this negotiation?
This is false. All of the software on my computer is freely modifiable, and I can indeed look at the source code.