t.cruise said:
As you have already been informed, OEM versions of Windows XP, bundled on a new system are
not the responsibility of Microsoft, but the vender. Out of curiosity, are you planning
on using a different operating system? Since laptops use much proprietary hardware, and
the laptop is new, are you sure that there are non-Windows XP compatible drivers for all
of your laptop's hardware that play nice with the operating system that you intend to use?
--
T.C.
t__cruise@[NoSpam]hotmail.com
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Yes I'm using a different operating system, namely Fedora Core 3.
Your sceptecism of laptop driver support is well founded.
I was after a unix-style laptop with the empasis on portability and from
previous driver support issues chose a 12" powerbook. After five weeks of
lies, namely two other people I know who ordered their laptops after me
receiving theirs after which I was told that "None have come in yet". To
which they promptly changed their tune when I pointed out that the laptop my
friend had just loaded into her car was the same model! They insisted that it
wasn't their fault that the ordering system was messed up, they were sorry
but there were none left from the last shipment and the date of arrival of
the next shipment was unknown.
Anyway...
So I decided to try a Linux laptop. The Fujitsu laptop forums indicated
reasonable driver support. So I purchased the Fujitsu. Driver issues? Of
course!
I had to download a new wireless lan driver and insert a "mode" line into
the X config file.
The point here is that brand-name laptops come with the windows recovery
discs sealed in the box with the windows sticker applied by the manufacturer
overseas.
Once one has chosen a laptop possessing the desired features, if the
operating system is "packed in" by the manufacturer there is little that the
local retailer can do.
