HP Sees Huge Linux Desktop Deals

[Yousuf Khan]

We've heard this before, but this time it may be for real. Microsoft's
ridiculous pricing for Vista may be the final straw that breaks the
camel's back. The camel in this case is the business desktop market.

Unlike the home desktop market, there's no need to play video games on a
business desktop, so they aren't quite as beholden to the Windows
operating system as the home users would be. There's plenty of
alternatives for typical business applications available on Linux, like
OpenOffice and Firefox, many of which may be being used already in
Windows environments. Other Windows stuff you can probably run inside a
Citrix environment as needed.

HP Sees Huge Linux Desktop Deals - Hewlett-Packard, Blade, PCs,
Notebooks - CRN
http://www.crn.com/hardware/197800591

 

[Gnu_Raiz]

We've heard this before, but this time it may be for real. Microsoft's
ridiculous pricing for Vista may be the final straw that breaks the
camel's back. The camel in this case is the business desktop market.

Unlike the home desktop market, there's no need to play video games on a
business desktop, so they aren't quite as beholden to the Windows
operating system as the home users would be. There's plenty of
alternatives for typical business applications available on Linux, like
OpenOffice and Firefox, many of which may be being used already in
Windows environments. Other Windows stuff you can probably run inside a
Citrix environment as needed.

HP Sees Huge Linux Desktop Deals - Hewlett-Packard, Blade, PCs,
Notebooks - CRNhttp://www.crn.com/hardware/197800591

This could be bad news for Dell, and give HP some ataboys if they can
pull it off. This could be a marketing coop, even if they don't
provide Linux installs but provide 100% Linux compatability they could
make inroads. In fact all they would have to do is tell the masses we
want to support Linux, but at this time we need your help in
developing a market for it.

I think it all depends on price, if the computer is cheaper by about
30-50 dollars without Window's, and you don't have to pay for the
Window's tax this could really drive sales. For some reason I think
its more about licensing then about cost, I wouldn't be surprised if M
$ has a clause if you provide other OS's you loose your special
pricing, to me this might be the real problem in something like this.
If the customer gets a better price even if they have to install their
own OS as long as the hardware has Linux support, some people won't
care.

I do think HP could be in a better position as this could be a spring
board for more market share, this could drive the sales of other HP
products such as printers. HP could market a Linux solution with
proven support, something Dell doesn't have, I could see small
businesses jumping on this as the cost of M$ licenses alone might be
worth the price to change.

Gnu_Raiz

 

[YKhan]

This could be bad news for Dell, and give HP some ataboys if they can
pull it off. This could be a marketing coop, even if they don't
provide Linux installs but provide 100% Linux compatability they could
make inroads. In fact all they would have to do is tell the masses we
want to support Linux, but at this time we need your help in
developing a market for it.

Dell is already on the run from HP. HP can pretty much do nothing at
this point, and it would still be bad news for Dell.

Dell has already fallen to 2nd place behind HP, now that it no longer
has the extra-favourable Intel discount advantage.

I think it all depends on price, if the computer is cheaper by about
30-50 dollars without Window's, and you don't have to pay for the
Window's tax this could really drive sales. For some reason I think
its more about licensing then about cost, I wouldn't be surprised if M
$ has a clause if you provide other OS's you loose your special
pricing, to me this might be the real problem in something like this.
If the customer gets a better price even if they have to install their
own OS as long as the hardware has Linux support, some people won't
care.

Oh, I think it would have to be a pricing advantage of considerably
more than $30-50 for people to consider going without Windows. I'd say
a pricing advantage of $100-200 will definitely turn heads. Especially
in the laptop market. HP can package laptops with all of the proper
drivers, for things like Wi-Fi cards, Ethernet, card readers, etc. It
can also include Linux applications for CD/DVD burning, CD/MP3
ripping, DVD players, video editors, office suites, bittorrent
clients, and several types of traditional Solitaire-style games, and
they'll have themselves a killer back-to-school laptop. Also they
could package an all-in-one HP printer with it, fully configured for
both printing and scanning. People will be amazed by the value of that
system.

As for MS's exclusionary discount policies. This is precisely the sort
of anti-trust debacle that Intel finds itself in right now. I doubt
Microsoft will be willing to put itself into a spotlight like this if
it does do it. Besides it would need a vendor as large as HP to move
its Vista product. It certainly doesn't look like anybody is rushing
to upgrade to Vista yet. Only new computers with Vista preinstalled
are moving.

 

[gaffo]

We've heard this before, but this time it may be for real.
Microsoft's ridiculous pricing for Vista may be the final straw that
breaks the camel's back. The camel in this case is the business
desktop market.

Unlike the home desktop market, there's no need to play video games
on a business desktop, so they aren't quite as beholden to the
Windows operating system as the home users would be. There's plenty
of alternatives for typical business applications available on Linux,
like OpenOffice and Firefox, many of which may be being used already
in Windows environments. Other Windows stuff you can probably run
inside a Citrix environment as needed.

HP Sees Huge Linux Desktop Deals - Hewlett-Packard, Blade, PCs,
Notebooks - CRN http://www.crn.com/hardware/197800591

whats the big deal/speculation?

SuSe was/is and probably will be the best Linux desktop offering.

has been since OpenLinux went all SCO on us ten yrs ago.

--

 

[gaffo]

Dell is already on the run from HP. HP can pretty much do nothing at
this point, and it would still be bad news for Dell.

Dell has already fallen to 2nd place behind HP, now that it no longer
has the extra-favourable Intel discount advantage.

why is this?? did their deal with AMD last summer end their
relationship with Intel?


do you know this is so?


if it is - who was the retard who decided (and I guess that means Mr
Dell also) to jumped ship to AMD right before Intel released their Core
chip?


Dell SHOULD have jumped ship in 2000 when Athlon had proven itself - OR
stuck it out with intel until Core.

they did niether.


did they lose their "exclusive" with Intel??????????????????????????????

Oh, I think it would have to be a pricing advantage of considerably
more than $30-50 for people to consider going without Windows. I'd say
a pricing advantage of $100-200 will definitely turn heads. Especially
in the laptop market. HP can package laptops with all of the proper
drivers, for things like Wi-Fi cards, Ethernet, card readers, etc. It
can also include Linux applications for CD/DVD burning, CD/MP3
ripping, DVD players, video editors, office suites, bittorrent
clients, and several types of traditional Solitaire-style games, and
they'll have themselves a killer back-to-school laptop. Also they
could package an all-in-one HP printer with it, fully configured for
both printing and scanning. People will be amazed by the value of that
system.

what is the price of XP these days? why not just use it? it
"works"...........unlike 98/95/3.1...........etc.........

granted DOS 6.22 works - love it truth be known ;-).

As for MS's exclusionary discount policies. This is precisely the sort
of anti-trust debacle that Intel finds itself in right now. I doubt
Microsoft will be willing to put itself into a spotlight like this if
it does do it. Besides it would need a vendor as large as HP to move
its Vista product. It certainly doesn't look like anybody is rushing
to upgrade to Vista yet. Only new computers with Vista preinstalled
are moving.

hhhhhhmmmmmmmmm interesting.

a solution in search of a problem perhaps?

--

 

[nobody]

We've heard this before, but this time it may be for real. Microsoft's
ridiculous pricing for Vista may be the final straw that breaks the
camel's back. The camel in this case is the business desktop market.

Unlike the home desktop market, there's no need to play video games on a
business desktop, so they aren't quite as beholden to the Windows
operating system as the home users would be. There's plenty of
alternatives for typical business applications available on Linux, like
OpenOffice and Firefox, many of which may be being used already in
Windows environments. Other Windows stuff you can probably run inside a
Citrix environment as needed.

Citrix? What a dog - it keeps freezing dead for a couple of seconds
after each click - or is it the way it's configured in the company I
am doing my current project for?

HP Sees Huge Linux Desktop Deals - Hewlett-Packard, Blade, PCs,
Notebooks - CRN
http://www.crn.com/hardware/197800591

If Linux boxes cost less than Windows ones, companies will buy them -
and format with their own volume-licensed corporate images of Windows.
;-)
There are very few, if any, Windows-less large or medium-sized
businesses, they have volume licenses, and usually standard images
that are different from whatever the OEMs put on their boxes.

NNN

 

[Yousuf Khan]

YKhan wrote:

why is this?? did their deal with AMD last summer end their
relationship with Intel?

More the other way around, Dell lost their most-favoured status with
Intel, and then they finally decided to deal with AMD.

Of course, the reason Intel pulled the most-favoured status from Dell in
the first place was because AMD sued Intel, and Intel doesn't want to
give AMD any more ammunition than it already has. The Dell-Intel deal
would've most likely been the most visible evidence against them.

do you know this is so?

It was obvious from their financial results for the last several
quarters. Also from the increase in chatter they started about going
with AMD.

if it is - who was the retard who decided (and I guess that means Mr
Dell also) to jumped ship to AMD right before Intel released their Core
chip?

Well, it's not so important what the performance parts are doing, it's
the value parts that are more important. It was with the cost
effectiveness of AMD platforms that allowed HP to get back on top of
Dell, even while going with a traditional retail model without going
through a Dell-style mail-order distribution model.

Actually, the Dell-style mail-order model was bullshit, it had nothing
whatsoever to do with Dell's success, even though the analysts always
played up this talking point as being the reason behind the success.
What was really keeping Dell profitable was the most-favoured status
with Intel, they were being transferred close to $1B/yr from Intel just
to stay Intel-only; and they weren't reporting it properly in their
accounting records. Once that subsidy was pulled, the real economics
came into play and Dell found it could no longer compete against HP-AMD
combos. So Dell's only choice, since it couldn't beat them, was the join
them.

Up until recently, AMD processors were making up 50% or more of the
laptops in retail. Recently, Intel just started packaging left-over
inventory Pentium 4's in laptops, and so it's now regained cost
advantage from AMD again. A lot of Intel laptops are being sold again,
but they're not Core or Core 2-based laptops, they're Pentium 4-based ones.

Dell SHOULD have jumped ship in 2000 when Athlon had proven itself - OR
stuck it out with intel until Core.

they did niether.

Then they would've missed out on the cost advantages of going AMD. As I
said, it's not the high-end products that matter as much as their
low-end products.

what is the price of XP these days? why not just use it? it
"works"...........unlike 98/95/3.1...........etc.........

Whether XP or Vista, the cost starts well over $100 for a retail box.
The OEMs obviously get it cheaper than we do, but by how much 50% maybe?
Don't know, it probably still isn't enough to counter Linux prices
directly; so it's probably making sure that the OEMs don't start
offering Linux with some behind-the-scenes threats. If some real
operating system competition opened up, I'd suspect we'd see Microsoft
discounting by 70% or 80%? Maybe just slightly above the cost of
stamping the CD or DVD-ROM? That's really all that Windows is worth in
real-life -- the cost of its CDs. I'd love to see Microsoft give away
its Windows and just charge for support services like the Linux vendors
-- maybe too much to ask for, as Microsoft doesn't provide support
services as it is right now.

Yousuf Khan

 

[Yousuf Khan]

If Linux boxes cost less than Windows ones, companies will buy them -
and format with their own volume-licensed corporate images of Windows.
;-)
There are very few, if any, Windows-less large or medium-sized
businesses, they have volume licenses, and usually standard images
that are different from whatever the OEMs put on their boxes.

The businesses that already have their own Windows licenses, already get
special deals for systems with no operating systems on them.

Yousuf Khan

 

[nobody]

The businesses that already have their own Windows licenses, already get
special deals for systems with no operating systems on them.

Yousuf Khan

Not necessarily - at least the company I'm working for now. They
receive PCs (used to be HPs, now Dells) preinstalled with XP, with
license stickers, restore disks, OEM XP disk, and all - and it's a
part of the price they pay. The first thing they do after unpacking
it is re-imaging C: with standard corporate image. Not only it
includes Office and some apps (Lotus Notes, Citrix, and a few more),
it has some special Windows config. Particularly, no screensavers
exists and can be installed, even the tab is missing; also not even
local admin group members can edit registry, and some more stuff I
don't remember. As I know the IT boss, he'd jump on a deal that
offers no OS or free OS ;-), if he could save a buck on it - at least
a part of that buck would go to his bonus. Probably Dell doesn't
offer "No OS" or Linux options - or these options don't lower the
price of the package.

NNN