Dell to Sell Linux PCs

[Charlie Wilkes]

"Something in the balance of power between the world's largest PC vendor
and the crew in Redmond has shifted, and not in Redmond's favor. You can
bet money on that."

http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,129363-c,linux/article.html

 

[Zim Babwe]

OK so in a typical day when they sell 10,000 PC's with Windows and 24 PC's
with Linux, will you be able to notice the shift?

 

[Stephan Rose]

OK so in a typical day when they sell 10,000 PC's with Windows and 24 PC's
with Linux, will you be able to notice the shift?

Would you please post references to where you got those numbers from?

--
Stephan Rose
2003 Yamaha R6

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[thetruthhurts]

"Something in the balance of power between the world's largest PC vendor
and the crew in Redmond has shifted, and not in Redmond's favor. You can
bet money on that."

http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,129363-c,linux/article.html

" one significant problem Dell and Microsoft are facing is just that
Vista is too resource-hungry and bloated to run well on sub-$500
machines"

 

[Charlie Wilkes]

OK so in a typical day when they sell 10,000 PC's with Windows and 24
PC's with Linux, will you be able to notice the shift?

We'll have to see how it works out. Apparently Dell is making this move
because their cheaper laptops (the best-selling category) don't have
enough horsepower to haul Vista's fat ass around. Other OEMs must be
facing a similar situation.

Meanwhile Linux has gotten a lot better since the last time this
experiment was tried...

Charlie

 

[Gary VanderMolen]

So what else is new? That complaint is heard every time
a new OS is released.

Gary VanderMolen

 

[Robert Firth]

Change of the sake of profit. Only reason I'd get the computer with Linux
would be to use the Windows license I have already acquired and not have to
pay for another. Format it right out of the box and install Ultimate.

I'm sure you will have some upset people who will want to return their
computer when they learn that they can't run any of their old programs and
have to re-learn how to use their computer. XP --> Vista is a jump.
XP/Vista --> Linux is a cliff dive for many home users. Grandma can hardly
find the start menu. Now she has to cope with total change. Even if you
already know how to use it, it isn't exactly the most desirable thing to do.

I could live with it if I had to, but I certainly wouldn't be happy. I don't
get that same warm fuzzy feeling when using Linux that I get when using
Windows. I feel like I am using someone else's computer. I had to cope with
it for several weeks this past summer while doing research at a local
university. Nothing major, but I know for a fact that Linux crashes just as
often as Windows. Some people just need a scapegoat.

--
/* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* Robert Firth *
* Windows Vista x86 RTM *
* http://www.WinVistaInfo.org *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * */

 

[Scott]

Gary VanderMolen


So what else is new? That complaint is heard every time
a new OS is released.

Dell is hungrier now than they were in 2001.
--
Scott http://angrykeyboarder.com

A: Because it messes up the order in which people normally read text.
Q: Why is top-posting such a bad thing?
NOTICE: In-Newsgroup (and therefore off-topic) comments on my sig will
be cheerfully ignored, so don't waste our time.

 

[Scott]

We'll have to see how it works out. Apparently Dell is making this move
because their cheaper laptops (the best-selling category) don't have
enough horsepower to haul Vista's fat ass around. Other OEMs must be
facing a similar situation.

Meanwhile Linux has gotten a lot better since the last time this
experiment was tried...

Dell has actually been selling a few consumer desktop models with
Linux for quite some time now.

Well actually thy're sold with unformatted Hard Disks and a copy of
FreeDOS in the box. Leaving the user to install their OS of choice.

--
Scott http://angrykeyboarder.com

A: Because it messes up the order in which people normally read text.
Q: Why is top-posting such a bad thing?
NOTICE: In-Newsgroup (and therefore off-topic) comments on my sig will
be cheerfully ignored, so don't waste our time.

 

[Scott]

Change of the sake of profit. Only reason I'd get the computer with Linux
would be to use the Windows license I have already acquired and not have to
pay for another. Format it right out of the box and install Ultimate.

But the inexpensive PCs they're talking about would't run Ultimate (or
at least not well) anyway.

I'd consider a PC (only if it weren't a replacement) with Linux
Preinstalled for the right price. Up till recently, I'd been spending
much more time in Linux anyway. Once the novelty of Vista wears off
I'll be back to that M.O.

I'm sure you will have some upset people who will want to return their
computer when they learn that they can't run any of their old programs and
have to re-learn how to use their computer. XP --> Vista is a jump.
XP/Vista -->

Linux is a cliff dive for many home users. Grandma can hardly
find the start menu.

I've read quite the opposite actually. I know of a number of Linux
people who installed Linux on "Gradma's" PC (in place of Windows) and
s/he had no more trouble with it than Windows.

All "Grandma" wants to do is some email, surf the web and possibly
write a letter. Modem Linux distos come with all that capability and
then some.

And it's quite easy to find the "Start menu" in most Linux
distributions.

Hell my Mom coudn't find it in XP and she can't in Vista now. I put
the icons for the only apps she ever use on the desktop for her.

The same can be done in Linux.
--
Scott http://angrykeyboarder.com

A: Because it messes up the order in which people normally read text.
Q: Why is top-posting such a bad thing?
NOTICE: In-Newsgroup (and therefore off-topic) comments on my sig will
be cheerfully ignored, so don't waste our time.

 

[Lang Murphy]

And no one thinks this has anything to do with Dell pressuring MS for better
agreements?

LOL.

Lang

 

[johnm]

Change of the sake of profit.

uhm, you just described Vista. Reworked Start Menu, Control Panel, folder
locations, random name changes everywhere with no rhyme or reason other than
change for the sake of change.
clue: If I go out and rearrange the letters on the hood of my Dodge to read
Gedod it won't make it a new car...

I'm sure you will have some upset people who will want to return their
computer when they learn that they can't run any of their old programs and
have to re-learn how to use their computer. XP --> Vista is a jump.
XP/Vista --> Linux is a cliff dive for many home users. Grandma can hardly
find the start menu. Now she has to cope with total change.

You're doing it again....

 

[Conor]

"Something in the balance of power between the world's largest PC vendor
and the crew in Redmond has shifted, and not in Redmond's favor. You can
bet money on that."

Wrong. They said the same in 2000. Nothing happened.

 

[Conor]

Would you please post references to where you got those numbers from?

Widely available stats for the percentage of Linux installs on the
desktop.

 

[Conor]

We'll have to see how it works out. Apparently Dell is making this move
because their cheaper laptops (the best-selling category) don't have
enough horsepower to haul Vista's fat ass around. Other OEMs must be
facing a similar situation.

Meanwhile Linux has gotten a lot better since the last time this
experiment was tried...

It'll last about a month until the Dell forums get filled with
shitloads of rants from disgruntled users who couldn't use X hardware
or Y software.

 

[Alias]

Wrong. They said the same in 2000. Nothing happened.

Linux has changed a tad since 2000. I, for one, never dreamed I would
even consider Linux until MS did me the favor of accusing me of being a
thief until I prove otherwise THREE times with XP. That motivated me to
try Ubuntu and I was pleasantly surprised on how user friendly it is and
how I can get support without being sneered at by some MVP who is high
on self importance.

Alias

 

[Brian W]

I'd never touch Dell anyway, even more reason to avoid them now.

 

[arachnid]

Linux has changed a tad since 2000. I, for one, never dreamed I would even
consider Linux until MS did me the favor of accusing me of being a thief
until I prove otherwise THREE times with XP. That motivated me to try
Ubuntu and I was pleasantly surprised on how user friendly it is and how I
can get support without being sneered at by some MVP who is high on self
importance.

Instead, you can get sneered at by Linux geeks who are high on self
importance.

 

[Conor]

Linux has changed a tad since 2000.

Not really. Driver support for new hardware is still shite. Upgrading
libraries still breaks applications. Setting up shares with Windows is
still a pain in the arse. Dependency hell still exists although Debians
package manager goes towards hiding a lot of that.

I, for one, never dreamed I would
even consider Linux until MS did me the favor of accusing me of being a
thief until I prove otherwise THREE times with XP. That motivated me to
try Ubuntu and I was pleasantly surprised on how user friendly it is and
how I can get support without being sneered at by some MVP who is high
on self importance.

Linux has been quite user friendly since Mandrake and the like came on
the scene.

 

[Alias]

Instead, you can get sneered at by Linux geeks who are high on self
importance.

I have noticed there are a few of those but not as many as there are
MVPs with the same affliction.

Alias