Why windows is included in new computers?

I am a linux user since … years. I only use linux, and I am very happy. Why I have to buy windows when I buy a new computer? Sincerely, I don’t understand why I have to pay money to Microsoft when I have to format and install linux. Do you know some company that sell computers without any OS?

Its called a monopoly. Microsux has become a money hungry beast that must be fed anyway possible. They are coming out with software faster then they can fix all the bugs in the previous versions trying to stay on top of the game in turn creating a bunch of crappy software. Try building your own system, thats what I did, put everything on it that you like…

You don’t have to have windows when you buy a new computer.
Go to a proper computer shop & get a computer made, then install your os you want.
simple as that.
If you go to a retail chain, well, yes you will get windows.
why,?
It’s the most popular, easy to use (for mainstream users), used in schools.
why would it not be installed?
Like it or not, the Majority of computer users are not super geeks & have no idea or inclination to use linux.
In fact Linux makes up only 2 or 3 % of computer users.
So who are computer manufacturers going to support.
98 % of customers or 2 %?
http://www.w3counter.com/globalstats.php

btw, I have 6 windows computers & 1 Linux computer.

I have always disliked microsoft’s software.
Windows XP was a decent OS,
Vista isterrible all kinds of crappy features.
Rather have XP or Ubuntu,
but I’d lose some hardware functionality.

I’m happy that Apple is a competitor,
Google is putting out a Lite Linux Core OS and Vista has put a very bad taste in almost everybody who has used it.

there are many. if you order online some of the most common online stores are tiger direct, newegg (if you can build your own), ibuypower. most sites that let you customize builds will let you deselct windows. if there is a “build” or “customize” button on the page just click on it.

http://www.ibuypower.com/

http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/shopping/home.do?aoid=8104&kw=hp%20customize&tafcjnef=fy09&ppc=CCp25687501

I actually like Windows for a variety of reasons I won’t go into here, but I will say it’s not because of gaming. And if you know enough about Windows you can hack the shell or replace it to have almost any visual look you want as well as optimize it’s resource use. I’m running Vista and it looks completely different from a standard installation and is highly efficient. It idles at just under 128 MB of RAM usage.

My workstation computer runs Sabayon. And it’s great as well. I do wish Microsoft hate would go away. Because it’s pointless and unproductive. :yes:

Yep, your best bet is to build your own computer.

Even works in a limited fashion for laptops, the one I’m typing on now was a ‘whitebox’ model that came sans cpu, ram, hard drive, wifi card and OS. Kind of a PITA tracking down all that stuff but it came out a much better deal than buying one off newegg with the microsoft tax included. Think the comparable model with less ram and smaller drive was a couple hundred dollars more than what this turned out to be.

The big plus is that since it came with full instructions on how to disaassemble it I’ve been able to solder the power plug back on a few times after it lost some battles with gravity. Always seems to manage to fall directly on the power cord like a cat lands on its feet for some reason.

Supposedly you’re also able to get a refund from MS if you buy a computer and don’t want windows…a lot better than when they were trying to tack on a charge for computers without OSes under the assumption that a pirated copy of windows would end up on it.

And people wonder where all the MS hate comes from, they assume that if you’re not their willing customer that you’re stealing from them and not that you might want to run something other than windows. We won’t even go into their business practices that lead up to the majority of computers coming bundled with windows where they leveraged their government granted monopoly position to force hardware suppliers to do their bidding.

Kind of strange how their current ad campaign doesn’t even talk about how much better windows is compared to OSX but how much of a better deal you get on hardware when they aren’t even the supplier of the product they’re advertising.

Lets face it, windows is more user friendly and alot easier for the vast majority of computer users out there.

If linux had the sort of plug and play ease of use as windows then alot more people would probably make the switch, but for now windows does what it needs for most computer users, even if it has it’s rather down sides (viruses, crashes etc).

Also you can opt out of getting an OS when you buy a computer, well most places, i think the larger companies probably wont as they usaully come off a production line, hence no user customization.

the larger companies will let you. i gave links to dell and hp sites where you can get customeized version. alot of sores probably dont carry them because the average public would view a computer without windows as generic even if it had great hardware. bigbox stores carry windows pc because thats what sells. most users are also going to use off the shelf software. walk into a software store and see how many products have windows listed in the requirments.

I built my own worstation some years ago, and the experience was not good. When one of your components fails it is a problem to be sure if this or this other component. It is more easy to me to buy all together… but I don’t like to pay Microsoft.

Thanks for the links of the online shops.

amd all those 4 links i gave you are for prebuilt computers that you can get without an os if you want prebuilt.

I’m wondering if maybe you’ve actually used Vista for a long period of time? I thought it would suck too but I gave Vista 64 a try this past winter and it’s worked great so far. Only gripe I have about it is there’s no Cisco VPN client for 64bit Vista and I have to run an older OS in a virtual machine if I want to use 16-bit apps. I used to have Ubuntu on this box and I’ve yet to see any noticeable difference in performance :spin:

Think about it: a computer would be damn-useless without an operating system to run it! :smiley: So, companies that want to sell computers obviously must include software, too.

Unfortunately, they include probably the worst operating-system possible … a brain-dead, inherently insecure “Home” version of Windows. Attractive, no doubt, because it is cheap.

Ask for what you really want, and you will get it. :slight_smile: It’s called “OS/X,” of course, and it can happily run MS-Windows where it properly belongs: in a window.

Seriously… if you don’t need Windows, you actually don’t have to buy it. (Just don’t expect to buy a stripped machine from an office-supply store, cause those cats don’t have a clucking foo… :evilgrin: If you do need Windows, then don’t go anywhere near to a “Home Edition!”

sundial linux is free and osx costs even more than windows. linux in a vr enviroment can ever run osx. with virtual box windows can run osx.

as for getting the home edition i can agree. the upgraded edition should be 3-5% more for over twice as much.

what people should do is ask themselves “what do i want to do with this pc” then how can i get there with the least investiment be it money and/or time. if linux can do every thing you need as quickly as windows (and it can do the internet and media center stuff like watching movies just as fast, surfing, posting etc…) if you want to run native windows software other than that without programming you own start up files go windows. if you want to over pay and blender still not work go osx. dont believe me do a search on osx problems which blender cat fix because it’s a bug in the osx system. also dont go for ubuntu 9.04 for the same reason. linux is for those programmers who really know what they are doing, apple is for noobs who want to pretend they knew to look cool, and windows is for everybody in between.

Yea, the only reason most windows sheep say other OS’s suck is because their argument is basically this:

How stupid is that? The only reason windows is popular is because all the games and software are made for it exclusively, and the reason for that is because everyone uses windows. The truth is, anything is better than windows. But you’re forced to buy it if you want the most software.

I used linux for about a year. In that time I developed this “Winders suck” attitude and then after a while realized that was stupid. There is a lot of irony when you are Linux user talking about how much Windows sucks.

Now im back to Windows 7 and all my problems (that I had under Ubuntu) are gone. Now I see why Linux fanboys are afraid of it. Yes I had few viruses downloaded but Avast deleted them right away without any harm to my system and Im happy to report that there are no other problems with it.

Zanos, your statement reminds me of something I heard just the other day, from a Linux Mag interview with Linus Torvalds:

"I’m a big believer in “technology over politics”. I don’t care who it comes from, as long as there are solid reasons for the code, and as long as we don’t have to worry about licensing etc issues. I may make jokes about Microsoft at times, but at the same time, I think the Microsoft hatred is a disease. I believe in open development, and that very much involves not just making the source open, but also not shutting other people and companies out. There are ‘extremists’ in the free software world, but that’s one major reason why I don’t call what I do ‘free software’ any more. I don’t want to be associated with the people for whom it’s about exclusion and hatred. "

I’m hearing good things about Windows 7. While I’ll most likely continue with Fedora for my personal PC, our next family PC will probably be Windows 7.

you can easily get a new PC without windows on it… if you know what you’re doing and who you’re buying from…

Its not really at all about the quality or the popularity of the windows suite, after all they did bust the market wide open and they make life very easy for the user as far as the ui. My big issue is their business ethics. Example. Every industry has been affected by the recession and in turn every industries ethics was put to the ultimate test. Push the monster into the corner and see how he acts…Well just one example of how Microsoft reacted was in affect to their Gears of War game. In order to keep your game progress you must have a Micrsoft Live account, Well when Gears of War 2 came out they implemented new coding into the Live accounts that after a said date Gears of War would not work any more in an attempt to make the Gear Heads buy Gears of War 2. You paid for the game you should be able to play for as long as you want. BAD BUSINESS…

hmm, why do Linux fanboys shit on threads?

I don’t get why a simple question about not wanting to buy Windows with their computer turned into a windows hate thread. Oh right, Linux Fanboys.