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Plenty of people have mentioned the Raspberry Pi and Arduino...plenty of options in the $25 - $100 range.

This poster agrees with them, but what about those that do NOT want to build hardware, they just want to explore Linux and software....this post is for you. Read on, and note, while the starting prices of their hardware starts out low, by the time you max it out with memory, disk drives, power supplies, better Graphics cards, multiple other stuff, the price will rise. In other words, do not expect this hardware to be the cheapest, just know that it will work with an distro of Linux out of the box, period! And to be honest, they are often not much more when configured similar to what you have in the big box store...just let them know which Distro of Linux you want on it, and they will configure it for you. You spend your time learning Linux, not messing with hardware and device drivers.

ZaReason is your Answer!

ZaReason has been active in the open source community since their founding days and all of their hardware is built with open source in mind. No UEFI BS chips on any of their hardware. No need to purchase a Windows OS in order to wipe Windows and install a Linux Distro.

UEFI, Unified Extensible Firmware Interface was forced on Vendors by Microsoft a long time ago. Originally they use to say it would make your computer more secure, however when you consider that the exploits it was protecting your computer against required someone to have the keys to your home, be inside, with your Linux password in order to use those exploits, well UEFI is a waste of time and is just more Vendor Lock-In by Microsoft.

First encountered the ZaReason owners at SCaLE in Los Angeles / Pasadena, California, when it was held at the hotels near LAX, now they hold it in Pasadena. If you are into Open source and have not been to SCaLE you should check it out. The things you can learn about, often from the creator is great, especially for the price. Recommend you book a room a head and stay in the hotel where the conference is hosted...but I digress.

Most of ZaReason's hardware starts in the $400 - $600 dollar range, but will quickly go up when you start adding their current maximum memory (32GB RAM) and if you add 6TB hard drives, etc.... When Windows refused to allow their Operating System to address above 16GB of RAM memory, ZaReason was putting laptops together with that amount of RAM and it was all usable. One of their laptop models had the largest screen on the market at the time, 16.3 (Bright, anti-glare 17.3" LED backlit display @ 1920x1080 pixels) versus 15" from other manufacturers.

Want to create a TV wall on a 65" or larger TV in your house, Linux will let you do it, there is software that has to be configured / built in with the kernel that will let you control the processors independently of each other, say let your 2 cores control one screen, another core control another, two other cores control yet another screen, etc... and divide your 65" TV into a TV Wall of say 3 X 3 or 4 X 4 monitors. Let the internet stream music on one screen, news on a couple of others, weather on another, you can program on four of the others and show social media on yet other screens of your TV Wall....I plan to do this in the next couple of years...software was available back in 2010 or before.

Boy will I cut the cord....can't wait and will never look back...if only I had Google Fiber in my area!

Full disclosure, I do not work at the company, but have purchased two laptops, a desktop/ser

Plenty of people have mentioned the Raspberry Pi and Arduino...plenty of options in the $25 - $100 range.

This poster agrees with them, but what about those that do NOT want to build hardware, they just want to explore Linux and software....this post is for you. Read on, and note, while the starting prices of their hardware starts out low, by the time you max it out with memory, disk drives, power supplies, better Graphics cards, multiple other stuff, the price will rise. In other words, do not expect this hardware to be the cheapest, just know that it will work with an distro of Linux out of the box, period! And to be honest, they are often not much more when configured similar to what you have in the big box store...just let them know which Distro of Linux you want on it, and they will configure it for you. You spend your time learning Linux, not messing with hardware and device drivers.

ZaReason is your Answer!

ZaReason has been active in the open source community since their founding days and all of their hardware is built with open source in mind. No UEFI BS chips on any of their hardware. No need to purchase a Windows OS in order to wipe Windows and install a Linux Distro.

UEFI, Unified Extensible Firmware Interface was forced on Vendors by Microsoft a long time ago. Originally they use to say it would make your computer more secure, however when you consider that the exploits it was protecting your computer against required someone to have the keys to your home, be inside, with your Linux password in order to use those exploits, well UEFI is a waste of time and is just more Vendor Lock-In by Microsoft.

First encountered the ZaReason owners at SCaLE in Los Angeles / Pasadena, California, when it was held at the hotels near LAX, now they hold it in Pasadena. If you are into Open source and have not been to SCaLE you should check it out. The things you can learn about, often from the creator is great, especially for the price. Recommend you book a room a head and stay in the hotel where the conference is hosted...but I digress.

Most of ZaReason's hardware starts in the $400 - $600 dollar range, but will quickly go up when you start adding their current maximum memory (32GB RAM) and if you add 6TB hard drives, etc.... When Windows refused to allow their Operating System to address above 16GB of RAM memory, ZaReason was putting laptops together with that amount of RAM and it was all usable. One of their laptop models had the largest screen on the market at the time, 16.3 (Bright, anti-glare 17.3" LED backlit display @ 1920x1080 pixels) versus 15" from other manufacturers.

Want to create a TV wall on a 65" or larger TV in your house, Linux will let you do it, there is software that has to be configured / built in with the kernel that will let you control the processors independently of each other, say let your 2 cores control one screen, another core control another, two other cores control yet another screen, etc... and divide your 65" TV into a TV Wall of say 3 X 3 or 4 X 4 monitors. Let the internet stream music on one screen, news on a couple of others, weather on another, you can program on four of the others and show social media on yet other screens of your TV Wall....I plan to do this in the next couple of years...software was available back in 2010 or before.

Boy will I cut the cord....can't wait and will never look back...if only I had Google Fiber in my area!

Full disclosure, I do not work at the company, but have purchased two laptops, a desktop/ser

Plenty of people have mentioned the Raspberry Pi and Arduino...plenty of options in the $25 - $100 range.

This poster agrees with them, but what about those that do NOT want to build hardware, they just want to explore Linux and software....this post is for you. Read on, and note, while the starting prices of their hardware starts out low, by the time you max it out with memory, disk drives, power supplies, better Graphics cards, multiple other stuff, the price will rise. In other words, do not expect this hardware to be the cheapest, just know that it will work with an distro of Linux out of the box, period! And to be honest, they are often not much more when configured similar to what you have in the big box store...just let them know which Distro of Linux you want on it, and they will configure it for you. You spend your time learning Linux, not messing with hardware and device drivers.

ZaReason is your Answer!

ZaReason has been active in the open source community since their founding days and all of their hardware is built with open source in mind. No UEFI BS chips on any of their hardware. No need to purchase a Windows OS in order to wipe Windows and install a Linux Distro.

UEFI, Unified Extensible Firmware Interface was forced on Vendors by Microsoft a long time ago. Originally they use to say it would make your computer more secure, however when you consider that the exploits it was protecting your computer against required someone to have the keys to your home, be inside, with your Linux password in order to use those exploits, well UEFI is a waste of time and is just more Vendor Lock-In by Microsoft.

First encountered the ZaReason owners at SCaLE in Los Angeles / Pasadena, California, when it was held at the hotels near LAX, now they hold it in Pasadena. If you are into Open source and have not been to SCaLE you should check it out. The things you can learn about, often from the creator is great, especially for the price. Recommend you book a room a head and stay in the hotel where the conference is hosted...but I digress.

Most of ZaReason's hardware starts in the $400 - $600 dollar range, but will quickly go up when you start adding their current maximum memory (32GB RAM) and if you add 6TB hard drives, etc.... When Windows refused to allow their Operating System to address above 16GB of RAM memory, ZaReason was putting laptops together with that amount of RAM and it was all usable. One of their laptop models had the largest screen on the market at the time, 16.3 (Bright, anti-glare 17.3" LED backlit display @ 1920x1080 pixels) versus 15" from other manufacturers.

Want to create a TV wall on a 65" or larger TV in your house, Linux will let you do it, there is software that has to be configured / built in with the kernel that will let you control the processors independently of each other, say let your 2 cores control one screen, another core control another, two other cores control yet another screen, etc... and divide your 65" TV into a TV Wall of say 3 X 3 or 4 X 4 monitors. Let the internet stream music on one screen, news on a couple of others, weather on another, you can program on four of the others and show social media on yet other screens of your TV Wall....I plan to do this in the next couple of years...software was available back in 2010 or before.

Boy will I cut the cord....can't wait and will never look back...if only I had Google Fiber in my area!

Full disclosure, I do not work at the company, but have purchased two laptops, a desktop/ser

I have a great machine from ZaReason in Berkeley CA. Great company, maintains their drivers and THOROUGHLY tests their builds. I run Warcraft and Flash and tons of video and audio on mine and never have issues. Beautiful machine. Going to get another here after this MacBook dies. http://zareason.com/shop/Lapto...

Microsoft has ignored the Skype for Linux, not just 'months', but more like years. When you look at the dates, you see 2013 and 2014 (when it finished), but the real takeover of Nokia started when they hired in the ex Microsoft Exec, Stephen Elop in 2010 (Stephen Elop hired as CEO of Nokia). It was shortly after that, Nokia stopped supporting the first phone that was also a Linux computer, the N800, N880 and N900 models N900 pulled off shop shelves in Nokia Stores.

Your basic embrace, extend extinguish strategy that Microsoft has used over the years. They just suck the technology and software out of the company when they buy it and within 4-5 years that company and often those products are no more.

Nokia's N800, N880 and N900 models also had two micro USB slots, one internal under the battery that could be used as slower RAM or additional storage, with the external micro USB used to swap in and out of whatever (environments, software, whatever)...still waiting to see an Android phone with two micro USB slots. At least the Android BLU has two SIM slots (two phone numbers ringing on the same phone), but I digress.

Microsoft started ignoring Linux years before Skype was even a glint in the eye of the developers who created it. All the while using more and more of various Linux distros and the Kernel to improve Windows. Pathetic.

How many years Microsoft has been ignoring Linux is debatable, I will say since its inception, but based on the two URLs above, at least since 2010. That's 6 years and counting folks.

Now they want us back...only because they are trying to hold off mass migrations from Windows 7 to Linux because of their new pricing strategy for Windows 10. As of July 12, 2016, two days ago, Enterprise users will be extorted into paying so much each month or $84 per year to use Windows 10.

They want you to think they are interested in helping Linux...you are not that naive are you?

Insanity, doing the same thing, Extend, Embrace, Extinguish, and expecting a different result from Microsoft. I stopped drinking the Micro$oft Kool-Aid years ago, what is your excuse.

I say they have been ignoring Linux since they started, April 4, 1975, per Google (talk about the Ultimate April Fools joke on computer users) or roughly 41 years. But even if you say only 6 years...it is still too little too late!

Monthly pricing for Enterprise users stupid enough to pay it, will ultimately filter down to the Home Users version of Windows. It is not a matter of IF, only WHEN.

To buy computer hardware free of Microsoft negotiated chips that require a Microsoft license, even to run Linux, only purchase your computer hardware from ZaReason, System 76 or a computer manufacturer that specializes in Linux on the computer....does not matter which distro, financially you are better off with Linux + LibreOffice + anything else and just say NO TO WINDOZE 10!

ZaReason will put any Linux distro you want on their computers, while System76 tends to focus more on Ubuntu, fyi.

New users to Linux you have many choices, however the two dominant distros are based on either Redhat/CentOS or Debian...there are many others. A safe place for a newbie to Linux to start would be Linux Mint. If you have a touch screen Unbuntu, but if you do not have a touch screen, just use Debian. For Home Servers use CentOS, Debian or Ubuntu. Use what I have written here as a guide, or place to start, in doing your own homework and decide for yourself.

Google "graphic images Linux Distributions" and you will find family trees showing you all the different versions of Linux and from what original distro they forked out of. At the bottom of this page is one of my favorite family trees:

Microsoft has ignored the Skype for Linux, not just 'months', but more like years. When you look at the dates, you see 2013 and 2014 (when it finished), but the real takeover of Nokia started when they hired in the ex Microsoft Exec, Stephen Elop in 2010 (Stephen Elop hired as CEO of Nokia). It was shortly after that, Nokia stopped supporting the first phone that was also a Linux computer, the N800, N880 and N900 models N900 pulled off shop shelves in Nokia Stores.

Your basic embrace, extend extinguish strategy that Microsoft has used over the years. They just suck the technology and software out of the company when they buy it and within 4-5 years that company and often those products are no more.

Nokia's N800, N880 and N900 models also had two micro USB slots, one internal under the battery that could be used as slower RAM or additional storage, with the external micro USB used to swap in and out of whatever (environments, software, whatever)...still waiting to see an Android phone with two micro USB slots. At least the Android BLU has two SIM slots (two phone numbers ringing on the same phone), but I digress.

Microsoft started ignoring Linux years before Skype was even a glint in the eye of the developers who created it. All the while using more and more of various Linux distros and the Kernel to improve Windows. Pathetic.

How many years Microsoft has been ignoring Linux is debatable, I will say since its inception, but based on the two URLs above, at least since 2010. That's 6 years and counting folks.

Now they want us back...only because they are trying to hold off mass migrations from Windows 7 to Linux because of their new pricing strategy for Windows 10. As of July 12, 2016, two days ago, Enterprise users will be extorted into paying so much each month or $84 per year to use Windows 10.

They want you to think they are interested in helping Linux...you are not that naive are you?

Insanity, doing the same thing, Extend, Embrace, Extinguish, and expecting a different result from Microsoft. I stopped drinking the Micro$oft Kool-Aid years ago, what is your excuse.

I say they have been ignoring Linux since they started, April 4, 1975, per Google (talk about the Ultimate April Fools joke on computer users) or roughly 41 years. But even if you say only 6 years...it is still too little too late!

Monthly pricing for Enterprise users stupid enough to pay it, will ultimately filter down to the Home Users version of Windows. It is not a matter of IF, only WHEN.

To buy computer hardware free of Microsoft negotiated chips that require a Microsoft license, even to run Linux, only purchase your computer hardware from ZaReason, System 76 or a computer manufacturer that specializes in Linux on the computer....does not matter which distro, financially you are better off with Linux + LibreOffice + anything else and just say NO TO WINDOZE 10!

ZaReason will put any Linux distro you want on their computers, while System76 tends to focus more on Ubuntu, fyi.

New users to Linux you have many choices, however the two dominant distros are based on either Redhat/CentOS or Debian...there are many others. A safe place for a newbie to Linux to start would be Linux Mint. If you have a touch screen Unbuntu, but if you do not have a touch screen, just use Debian. For Home Servers use CentOS, Debian or Ubuntu. Use what I have written here as a guide, or place to start, in doing your own homework and decide for yourself.

Google "graphic images Linux Distributions" and you will find family trees showing you all the different versions of Linux and from what original distro they forked out of. At the bottom of this page is one of my favorite family trees:

Sadly not true. There are better choices for almost all 'use cases' but in corporate America, the person making the decision for the company is fearful of changing away from Microsoft. Fearful the decision will cost them their job should something go wrong.

There is hope...

As Microsoft ramps up and pushes for their monthly-revolving-billing for the 'use' (read you never own it) of their software-model, the risk of being 'turned off' by Microsoft greatly increases, not sure how you would measure this in 'Business Risk' but it should be a huge risk. Why would anyone put themselves in a position where inability to access software turns their computer investment into expensive paper weights?

If corporations analyze this risk correctly, they should be dumping Microsoft in droves... And if they don't, it only takes a few hiccups where the company's business cannot get done to get decision maker's attention. It's not a matter of if, but when...though I suspect it will still take years.

Evidently Adobe Photoshop will NOT let you purchase the software any longer, you must rent it monthly via their 'cloud' solution to use Photoshop. Pretty pathetic.

If I can't 'own' it, not going to purchase it... I hate to perpetually 'rent' anything, prevents you from lowering your monthly overhead and putting more money in actual investments that can provide financial independence.

To avoid Pro-Microsoft UEFI chipset BS, only order your computer hardware from Linux vendors who specialize in Linux. My favorite is ZaReason .

I have never used System 76, but they are another 'Linux' vendor. Buy the right hardware, then use the right software and these problems go away.

Since 2005 I have ONLY purchased my personal hardware from ZaReason a small family owned business out of Berkley, CA.

They do Linux right.

No Device driver issues, no USB issues, no Audio issues, no UEFI BS on the hardware and in spite of that, the hardware would run Windows, but why would you want too except for specific non steam games that are Windows ONLY.

I have used Windows, Mac and Linux at work, but for home use it's pretty much Linux, though in full disclosure I do have a Windows 7 box.

At work the licensing and way apps are purchased for Windows 8, 8.1 and now 10 are becoming an issue for us. I wonder what some of those in the music industry will do, when the only way to get Windows application software is to rent it monthly.... it's coming, like it or not....

Should that day come and you not pay your monthly rent on your software and hardware, you will have nothing but an expensive paperweight.

As a developer, I do have to use C# and .NET at work, unfortunately. Life was much eaiser with PHP on Linux (LAMP) or on WAMP for my Windows 7 PC at home. One of our concerns is changing of the development tool chain with Microsoft.

They purchased FoxPro and gutted it for all the great Visual stuff, upgrading Visual Studio and .dotNET, after which they end-of-lifed Visual FoxPro. Have heard rumors of them end-of-lifing Visual Basic, which is why we moved to C Sharp (C#) with .dotNET.

MS purchased Skype and focused primarily on Windows. In the office, when we installed Skype for Business, on some laptops, we experienced Licensing issues as we are still running Office 2010 (Pro & Stad) on Windows 7 Enterprise and Outlook 2012 and 2013. Skype pushed a 2015 License that created problems for any desktop where we had attempted to provide the License Key to Office, but the darn thing was not accepted, so now we have to force that license to accept BEFORE we install Skype for Business. Which really sucks for a large corporation that has multiple thousands of licenses.... If only Microsoft would fully document where all the hidden BS is, we could go out, edit it and fix/prevent the problem. But we literally have to stumble on the solution from someone else who has taken time to add junk to the bindry to experiment...that really sucks.

We use allot of touch screens in our production processes and have experienced issues with Asus, HP ProOne 400 AiOs and have started looking pretty hard at Dell's. At least the Dells, get us away from the Lightbar on the HP ProOne 400 AiOs which can be tough to keep clean in a prodution / plant type of environment. As with most production processes, we put those in a separate branch of Active Driectory so that windows won't stupidly push updates and cause a 30 minute interruption or longer in production. This is becoming increasingly a problem for us with Windows 8.1 and Windows 10. Hopefully they will fix it before it becomes a show stopper. The other day I went to force a shutdown and reboot of a problem, intended to log on as an administrator and force the update during the team's 45 minute lunch...imagine my surprise when the system, which was in the proper AD branch to prevent this, actually started updated Windows, I burned through the 45 minute lunch and 20 minutes into the production process. Just love notifying the plant manager 10 minutes into the outage that its because of a Windows update that should not have happened anyway. If that happens again, we have two touchscreens ready to go and I am just going to pull any machine that updates without permission out of the production process...a big hassle when the touch screen is bolted down.

Fortuantely I have a pretty progressive upper management structure that will actually consider Unity on Linux for touchscreens, so it's an option at this site. Does away with the automatic update happening without permission and allows us to reduce are per unit cost in har

No I was surprised that they were able to stay in business after the launch of vista and the windows 8 disaster.

... I was surprised...after NT...

... I was surprised...after Win 2000 refused to honor my settings to only update when I approved it.

... I was surprised...after MS Word would not read older MS Word formatted documents.

... I was surprised...after .... you gotta be kidding me...

really, Really, REALLY! NOT!!!

For decades they have done it this way, there is no suprise here any more.

The same people that have been saying they will leave for decades, I have some insight for you complainers...

You did not leave before, your not going to leave now and you will not leave when they replace Windows 10 for something else they want to force down your throat.

Checkout the company ZaReason All ZaReason hardware is UEFI free and will run Windows if you still want too. Best of all ZaReason will install whatever version of Linux you want to run and as many here have pointed out, give Linux Mint to your grandmother and she will just think it's a new version of Windows. It's so easy to use, just works.

ZaReason sells laptops with 32GB of Triple Channel memory which is all addressable and usable by Linux...unfortunately Windows desktops and laptops will not use more than 16MB of RAM, forget about how much a 64 bit processor will address, Microsoft will not let you do it. They also have a laptop with a 17.1" screen...pretty amazing.

Want to run RedHat, CentOS or Fedora, go for it.

Want to run Debian, Mint, Ubuntu, go for it.

Want to run Slackware, Arch, BSD, no problem, go for it.

Want to run Windows, no problem, go for it. ZaReason hardware will not prevent that.

Why would anyone buy hardware anywhere else?

In addition to Death and Taxes, one day Microsoft is going to end of life your now favorite operating system for good or ill. On that day, don't put your old hardware in the dump, re-purpose it using Linux, something those UEFI chipsets at the big box stores will prevent. Thankfully ZaReason will not do that to you. They do Linux right!

If System76 doesn't meet reqs, there's also ZaReason.

I also found this site, which lists other Linux vendors, along with info like with what regions they ship from and to, and what distributions they provide.

So why not avoid all the BS and buy a portable from a manufacturer which actually specializes in building Linux machines?

So who makes an affordable laptop PC that runs multi-window Linux? Stock Android isn't multi-window, as Android's CDD relies on a window management policy of all maximized all the time. And last time I checked, companies you mentioned charge an Apple premium and lack a variety of sizes. System76 doesn't have anything smaller than 14 inches, and even ZaReason doesn't have a 10 or 11 inch model. This makes Linux look big and clunky.

The principle reason to put 2560x1440 pixels on a phone is to further the embarrassment of monitor manufacturers who can only manage to get 1/4 of the pixels into a 19" screen.

Damn right... when will I be able to buy a laptop with 2560x1440 resolution?

What do you mean, I can buy one today? Shut yo mouf!

I see your 2560x1400 and the cough, cough, only 4GB of RAM...seriously? Why have the better resolution and limit the amount of RAM (or disk space)?

Instead I would rather have either 16GB (or 32GB) of triple channel memory (RAM) with only 1920x1080 pixels (here) granted it would be best to have both, my guess is companies like ZaReason will when customers clamor for it. The Verix-545 is one heck of a sweet laptop, especially for the price, works with your preferred version of Linux out of the box, everything, it just works. Love having 2 TB of storage too. No more limitations, except resolution, if you consider HD at 1920x1080 to be a limitiation that is.

My only regret is that it does not have a 17", 19" or 21" laptop screen size. Granted I hook it to larger monitors to do work anyway. My future monitor will be a 60" LED 300hz LG TV. Have seen them in the stores on sale for $680, which is phenominal. My last LG was an LCD, 42" and cost over $1,000 on sale years ago.

Best of all, by buying from a Linux vendor only, you are not limited to only MS Win8 via the proprietary hardware...no more blind alleys.

With a LInux vendor, you can always buy a copy of Windows and run it, however the converse is not true, any hardware sold today that is meant for Windows 8 or 9, will *not* run Linux without paying for a Windows license, whether you need it or not.

The only reason not to purchase from a Linux vendor is if you want to run Macintosh OS X, of course that Macbook Pro will cost you considerablly more for less bang...good machines those Apple Macs, just always expensive.

The principle reason to put 2560x1440 pixels on a phone is to further the embarrassment of monitor manufacturers who can only manage to get 1/4 of the pixels into a 19" screen.

Damn right... when will I be able to buy a laptop with 2560x1440 resolution?

What do you mean, I can buy one today? Shut yo mouf!

I see your 2560x1400 and the cough, cough, only 4GB of RAM...seriously? Why have the better resolution and limit the amount of RAM (or disk space)?

Instead I would rather have either 16GB (or 32GB) of triple channel memory (RAM) with only 1920x1080 pixels (here) granted it would be best to have both, my guess is companies like ZaReason will when customers clamor for it. The Verix-545 is one heck of a sweet laptop, especially for the price, works with your preferred version of Linux out of the box, everything, it just works. Love having 2 TB of storage too. No more limitations, except resolution, if you consider HD at 1920x1080 to be a limitiation that is.

My only regret is that it does not have a 17", 19" or 21" laptop screen size. Granted I hook it to larger monitors to do work anyway. My future monitor will be a 60" LED 300hz LG TV. Have seen them in the stores on sale for $680, which is phenominal. My last LG was an LCD, 42" and cost over $1,000 on sale years ago.

Best of all, by buying from a Linux vendor only, you are not limited to only MS Win8 via the proprietary hardware...no more blind alleys.

With a LInux vendor, you can always buy a copy of Windows and run it, however the converse is not true, any hardware sold today that is meant for Windows 8 or 9, will *not* run Linux without paying for a Windows license, whether you need it or not.

The only reason not to purchase from a Linux vendor is if you want to run Macintosh OS X, of course that Macbook Pro will cost you considerablly more for less bang...good machines those Apple Macs, just always expensive.

Portability of learned skills means you don't have to re-train your workers.

Most often repeated FUD ever in the yes/no to Windows debate. Every version of Windows I have used from 1.0a as an app on top of MSDOS has required some re-learning of the Graphical User Interface (GUI) by anyone using it.

May as well take the same time to re-learn a Linux GUI instead. I would suggest Linux Mint, Debian or Fedora for desktop users.

Every new version of a desktop operating system will take a user some time to learn. There is no need to make Linux look like Windows or Windows look like Linux. There is no time savings or addtional time cost going from one to the other.

If a grandma can learn the GUI for Linux Mint, employees of your business can learn it as well.

And don't get me started about incompatibale data formats between MS Office products, just switch the office to LibreOffice and never have those issues again either. How many times has MS screwed us with incompatible data formats from one version of MS Word (in office) to the next? I remember two, time is kind, as I know it has happened to me more than twice, probably with one of the other office apps (Excel, Powerpoint, etc...). This makes MS a worse option as you never know when they are going to get you again and you can't say they won't, simply because they have...more than once.

The most important decision is the hardware, IMO, ONLY purchase hardware designed to run Linux from Linux Vendors ONLY. This means no big box stores, they simply do not do Linux well if at all. This avoids the proprietary chipsets that vendors have put in to favor Windows, esp with UEFI and Windows 8. Windows 7 will probably be the last MS OS I purchase because of the UEFI BS.

Personally I prefer ZaReason as they will install whatever distro I want on the hardware and everything just works out of the box. You could go System76 or any other Linux vendor, sure there are a few out there. ZaReason is just my preference.

Full disclosure, I do not work for ZaReason and have purchased their hardware...very happy with it, every time.

With Windows 8 requirement of a license by the proprietary hardware in order to perform a simple Linux install, is wrong. Its real bad. Just say NO to proprietary hardware.

Re-purposing a computer for One Laptop per Child or some other education use is why I buy all my hardware (PC, laptop and tablet) from Linux ONLY vendors. I figure I can always purchase a Windows license if I want one, however down the road that Linux hardware will not require a Windows license to run Linux because of some stupid proprietary chipsets in the hardware.

While there are many Linux only vendors, my favorite is ZaReason. System76 is another one, but they seem to focus on only one or two Linux distros, where the ZaReason techs will put on many more. Loving Debian lately and plan to play with Arch down the road.

Do yourself a favor, avoid any vendor that focuses on Windows and buy Linux hardware and if you really must have the latest version of Windows, purchase a license for your better LINUX hardware. At least it can run Windows without hassles, the converse is no longer true.

A Windows 8 device no longer runs Linux without hassles, best to avoid it for this reason alone.

The point of the mechanism that I suggested is to put the responsibility of final control of the device into the hands of the authorized owner of the device. If the owner of the device is not actually competent enough to exercise that control in a useful manner, that's not really the fault of the mechanism itsef. Either way, it's nothing that a would-be thief has any control over.

Was reading the back and forth and while interesting, the biggest problem are two fold:

1) Abuse and misuse ~ with the advent of all the FEMA data collection centers that many Americans deny exist or are unware of, no way do many of us trust that this would not be abused and misused. As others have stated, it would be utilized to silence speech that one group did not agree with, forget about freedom.

2)This feature however well intended would take the control out of the hands of the owner who purchased the device.

A last thought, you stated above:

... the device would be bricked at a level that is irrevocable....

Such a mechanism would not be able to be turned on and restored should the need arise. Seems like it would cost more problems than it would be worth. I have paid $500 for a new cellphone to avoid the monthly contract with my provider (and was glad I did as I had to churn when they put charges on my bill that they refused to remove after I proved to them that I had never made those calls, ever) and I would have been real upset that I now had a very expensive paperweight. No thank you.

At least with my $299 ZaReason ZaTab ZT2, I can use the micro SSD slot to boot up Linux and restore the device, or even put on another Linux distro other than Android should I desire it. 4 core CPU, 8 Core GPU, 2MB RAM, 8GB internal storage, 32GB micro SD card, 10.1" IPS 1280x800 display and best of all full root access, Ah freedom!

I'd like to avoid supporting Google/Android, but there don't seem to be many options.

I loved my N800 when I bought it years ago. Loved using Skype and WiFi to make all my calls.

Than came the N880, the N900 and finally a Microsoft bonehead exec to Nokia that killed the toolset all those depended on. Even if Nokia were to apolgize and make amends for trashing that product line after realizing their Windows phone offerings are crapola, the same thing would probably just happen again in a year or two with the next bonehead executive that mistakenly thinks only Apple or Microsoft can make a good handheld. This was not true when I purchased my N800 in 2006/2007. So we must stop wasting time looking at anything other than a Linux root-able handheld. Even if they come with Android, if its root-able, you can put other Linux distros on it, just do your homework.

Cellular must have ~ non root-able device that will NOT run the Linux distro of your choice!

Google's Android is the ONLY root-able open source option in the cellular world. Sadly the cellular companies prefer to keep their product offerings locked down with no root access. Why they only offer Android in a restricted limited version. A non-rootable Android would most likely prevent you from adding what you want (a Linux distro other than Android) to add to your device.

Rather than focus on the software that is "Android", focus on the hardware. Is it root-able? Can you install a Linux with a very small footprint on it (there are plenty of options)? If you focus on the hardware, it will run Linux, as all other options (MS Windows or Apple primarily) will be closed to you. Closed as in you can not install Linux on them. Android would be preferrable to these non-rootable, non-admin options!

If it will run Linux, chances are it will run many small foot print distros in addition to Android. The hardware is the KEY!

Only one question to ask, "Will the hardware run Linux?

Linux + root access = a device you can install what you want on, without limitations.

To make sure the hardware does, only purchase from a Linux vendor, my favorite is ZaReason, however there is System76 and probably many others. Even if the device runs Android when you purchase it, and its rootable, it will run Linux. See what hardware others are installing Linux distros on and buy that hardware.

Small foot print Linux distros will run in either 128KB or 256KB, they will run very fast in 512KB or more of RAM. My tablet has 2GB of RAM, yea!

Your biggest headache will be if you want the device to have cellular service, then you will have to do more research as anything you purchase from the Cellular companies is going to include proprietary chipsets on the hardware to prevent you from loading any Linux on it.

Verify the cellular provider of your choice will let you run their software on your device. Most probably will not and Skype is not supporting Linux as well as it use to now that Microsoft bought it up. Shame, loved only paying $9 per month for my phone service that connected via WiFi. Saved a ton of money for way more than 7 years with Skype + WiFi

Even if they say its(hardware) rootable, find someone who has installed another Linux distro on that hardware before you purchase it. One of the biggest headaches with the N800, N880 and N900 is they did not make it easy to install and update the operating system. The last thing you want to have to do is have special hardware, cables and/or software to perform an update. You should be able to update via either WiFi and/or the microSD slot.

Most important MUST HAVE after root access is WiFi and a microSD card slot! I put a 32GB card in mine. Many websites will show you how to make a

I think this is what you call getting Scroogled

Might be funny if the commercial was not so insanely stupid. And the pawn shop stars end up looking stupid because no one clued them in.

Better off purchasing hardware from a Linux ONLY vendor, like ZaReason or System 76 as their hardware is open and more likely to let you run even Windows (can always purchase a license, at least the hardware will not prevent you, though Microsoft might via their software) if you wanted to. Fortunately there is no need for that if you purchase smart.

That commercial is just another pro Windows commercial misleading others by implying that a restricted and/or limited Windows device is somehow better for a customer. That is insane.

Windows 8 with the proprietary hardware/chipsets (because of hardware vendor buy in) that requires a MS license to install even Linux on the device, is the main reason many of us will never buy that hardware, no matter what software runs on it.

No Root Access = Dumb Device

Of course I would never purchase a Kindle, Chrome book, or any other dumb device that either did not have an operating systems (for use offline while not connected to the Internet) or did not allow for root access so that I could install what I want, when I want it, in the way I want to use it.

This rootable tablet from ZaReason,the ZaTab ZT2, blows those other restricted and limited tablets, handhelds and devices away. Full root (hackable by you) access with a USB slot, yea. I download apps on my Linux laptop into my 32GB USB Micro SD card (using a USB adapter) and use them on my tablet as I want. The Micro SD card simply inserts into the slot and voila all my data is there. Same applies to music, only purchase music that can be played on any of your devices, such is possible if your device, whatever that device is, is rootable so that you can install open applications on it.

With the ability to run web apps standalone (thanks to HTML 5), yes while not connected to the Internet, why limit yourself by requiring you to be connected to the internet to use the device, that is equally insane.

"Scroogled", only if you buy a non-rootable non-Linux device, which is insane by definition. My first rootable Linux handheld was in 2006, come on people its 2014, the improvements in Linux speak for themselves, lift up your heads, look around and learn that you only are "Scroogled" if you allow yourself to be by purchasing a non-rootable device. Or hardware that only lets you run one operating system.

Full Disclosure: I can't speak to System 76 as I have purchased my last four hardware devices from ZaReason. When I visited the System 76 site, they seem to focus on Unbuntu, where as with ZaReason I could request other distros, Debian, Arch, Mint, Fedora, basically whatever Linux distro you want instead. Of course they run Android Jelly Bean, currently, on their ZaTab ZT2tablets. So far every ZaReason hardware box has worked out of the box in all areas, video, music, wifi, bluetooth, ethernet, etc... Convenient that they work out the kinks so their hardware just works out of the box, love that!

I think this is what you call getting Scroogled

Might be funny if the commercial was not so insanely stupid. And the pawn shop stars end up looking stupid because no one clued them in.

Better off purchasing hardware from a Linux ONLY vendor, like ZaReason or System 76 as their hardware is open and more likely to let you run even Windows (can always purchase a license, at least the hardware will not prevent you, though Microsoft might via their software) if you wanted to. Fortunately there is no need for that if you purchase smart.

That commercial is just another pro Windows commercial misleading others by implying that a restricted and/or limited Windows device is somehow better for a customer. That is insane.

Windows 8 with the proprietary hardware/chipsets (because of hardware vendor buy in) that requires a MS license to install even Linux on the device, is the main reason many of us will never buy that hardware, no matter what software runs on it.

No Root Access = Dumb Device

Of course I would never purchase a Kindle, Chrome book, or any other dumb device that either did not have an operating systems (for use offline while not connected to the Internet) or did not allow for root access so that I could install what I want, when I want it, in the way I want to use it.

This rootable tablet from ZaReason,the ZaTab ZT2, blows those other restricted and limited tablets, handhelds and devices away. Full root (hackable by you) access with a USB slot, yea. I download apps on my Linux laptop into my 32GB USB Micro SD card (using a USB adapter) and use them on my tablet as I want. The Micro SD card simply inserts into the slot and voila all my data is there. Same applies to music, only purchase music that can be played on any of your devices, such is possible if your device, whatever that device is, is rootable so that you can install open applications on it.

With the ability to run web apps standalone (thanks to HTML 5), yes while not connected to the Internet, why limit yourself by requiring you to be connected to the internet to use the device, that is equally insane.

"Scroogled", only if you buy a non-rootable non-Linux device, which is insane by definition. My first rootable Linux handheld was in 2006, come on people its 2014, the improvements in Linux speak for themselves, lift up your heads, look around and learn that you only are "Scroogled" if you allow yourself to be by purchasing a non-rootable device. Or hardware that only lets you run one operating system.

Full Disclosure: I can't speak to System 76 as I have purchased my last four hardware devices from ZaReason. When I visited the System 76 site, they seem to focus on Unbuntu, where as with ZaReason I could request other distros, Debian, Arch, Mint, Fedora, basically whatever Linux distro you want instead. Of course they run Android Jelly Bean, currently, on their ZaTab ZT2tablets. So far every ZaReason hardware box has worked out of the box in all areas, video, music, wifi, bluetooth, ethernet, etc... Convenient that they work out the kinks so their hardware just works out of the box, love that!

I think this is what you call getting Scroogled

Might be funny if the commercial was not so insanely stupid. And the pawn shop stars end up looking stupid because no one clued them in.

Better off purchasing hardware from a Linux ONLY vendor, like ZaReason or System 76 as their hardware is open and more likely to let you run even Windows (can always purchase a license, at least the hardware will not prevent you, though Microsoft might via their software) if you wanted to. Fortunately there is no need for that if you purchase smart.

That commercial is just another pro Windows commercial misleading others by implying that a restricted and/or limited Windows device is somehow better for a customer. That is insane.

Windows 8 with the proprietary hardware/chipsets (because of hardware vendor buy in) that requires a MS license to install even Linux on the device, is the main reason many of us will never buy that hardware, no matter what software runs on it.

No Root Access = Dumb Device

Of course I would never purchase a Kindle, Chrome book, or any other dumb device that either did not have an operating systems (for use offline while not connected to the Internet) or did not allow for root access so that I could install what I want, when I want it, in the way I want to use it.

This rootable tablet from ZaReason,the ZaTab ZT2, blows those other restricted and limited tablets, handhelds and devices away. Full root (hackable by you) access with a USB slot, yea. I download apps on my Linux laptop into my 32GB USB Micro SD card (using a USB adapter) and use them on my tablet as I want. The Micro SD card simply inserts into the slot and voila all my data is there. Same applies to music, only purchase music that can be played on any of your devices, such is possible if your device, whatever that device is, is rootable so that you can install open applications on it.

With the ability to run web apps standalone (thanks to HTML 5), yes while not connected to the Internet, why limit yourself by requiring you to be connected to the internet to use the device, that is equally insane.

"Scroogled", only if you buy a non-rootable non-Linux device, which is insane by definition. My first rootable Linux handheld was in 2006, come on people its 2014, the improvements in Linux speak for themselves, lift up your heads, look around and learn that you only are "Scroogled" if you allow yourself to be by purchasing a non-rootable device. Or hardware that only lets you run one operating system.

Full Disclosure: I can't speak to System 76 as I have purchased my last four hardware devices from ZaReason. When I visited the System 76 site, they seem to focus on Unbuntu, where as with ZaReason I could request other distros, Debian, Arch, Mint, Fedora, basically whatever Linux distro you want instead. Of course they run Android Jelly Bean, currently, on their ZaTab ZT2tablets. So far every ZaReason hardware box has worked out of the box in all areas, video, music, wifi, bluetooth, ethernet, etc... Convenient that they work out the kinks so their hardware just works out of the box, love that!

If you have the money to spend and do not want to build your own Linux media server (plan to do this with my older ZaReason Breeze 4220 PC), you could checkout ZaReason's product offerings. They build Linux boxes, you tell them what Linux distro you want on them.

ZaReason's small footprint media server, MediaBox 5440 (quad core power in a little bitty living space) or if you have room for a bigger box and are interested in 4 hot swappable sata bays, the Breeze Server 5880 looks like a very nice server.

Of course any Linux server can be made into a media server and any Linux PC can be turned into your personal DVR and a Linux server. Once you start using a Linux box this way, you will not want to 'stream' content over the internet, especially if you are a cable internet subscriber. Especially with a new LG 60 inch LED TV 1080p 300hz (Monitor wall anyone?) costing under $800! Just plug into your Linux PC and enjoy watching what you download!

Remember that 100% of Cable Internet providers throttle their bandwidth, meaning DSL is usually faster than their throttled cable bandwidth promises. DSL is usually cheaper too! The cable company's marketing bandwidth claims are lies based on this throttling!

(Run DD-WRT on a supported device to see your actual bandwidth in real time after the speed test ends, cable users will be shocked and disgusted!

A promise of 20MB/4MB gets throttled to less than 101Kb/20Kb in my experience and I guestimate you need at least 230Kb upstream for the stuttering to stop and they throttle the upstream to less than 20Kbs if you have the means to see it, granted other factors apply) This is why most of us download something before we watch it, forget about streaming over the Internet!

And with the recent net neutrality loss in the DC courts (January 14, 2014), this is going to become more of a problem for those of us wishing to download and stream content. It's going to get ugly folks!

I highly recommend Firefox with the DownloadHelper Plugin in order to download content from the Internet. Don't worry about the proprietary Windows formatted content, there are always other options, usually on the same download site. My friends and I refuse to purchase music that can not be played on any of our Linux devices (mp3, handheld, tablet, laptop, PC, server). If everyone did this, proprietary formats would be useless. And I pay for some content, just not proprietary formatted content. Even in the days of VCRs, I did not want to own every movie that I watched, only the few that I really loved, thus using a PC like a VCR, as in DVR, simply is the way we have always been doing things. If a TV/Cable Series or Movie is that good, I go buy it, usually after multiple seasons our out. Got all 10 Seasons of Stargate for under $300 at Fry's Electronics in CA, think I paid under $199, but its been awhile. Bought DVR version of "Dave" too, wish all our presidents were like Dave! Love that movie.

You can pretty much download anything down to a Linux PC and then stream it from there 'locally' on your network. This basically uses your harddrive like your own personal DVR box, no bandwidth throttling by cable companies to cause your streaming to stutter or stop. And you simply erase it after you watch it, just like we did with VCR tape recorders back in the day.

Full Disclosure, I do not work for ZaReason, just met the owners at SCaLE in Los Angeles a few years back (SCaLE 7x in 2008 I believe) and was very impressed with them, their company and their products. Became a customer i

If you have the money to spend and do not want to build your own Linux media server (plan to do this with my older ZaReason Breeze 4220 PC), you could checkout ZaReason's product offerings. They build Linux boxes, you tell them what Linux distro you want on them.

ZaReason's small footprint media server, MediaBox 5440 (quad core power in a little bitty living space) or if you have room for a bigger box and are interested in 4 hot swappable sata bays, the Breeze Server 5880 looks like a very nice server.

Of course any Linux server can be made into a media server and any Linux PC can be turned into your personal DVR and a Linux server. Once you start using a Linux box this way, you will not want to 'stream' content over the internet, especially if you are a cable internet subscriber. Especially with a new LG 60 inch LED TV 1080p 300hz (Monitor wall anyone?) costing under $800! Just plug into your Linux PC and enjoy watching what you download!

Remember that 100% of Cable Internet providers throttle their bandwidth, meaning DSL is usually faster than their throttled cable bandwidth promises. DSL is usually cheaper too! The cable company's marketing bandwidth claims are lies based on this throttling!

(Run DD-WRT on a supported device to see your actual bandwidth in real time after the speed test ends, cable users will be shocked and disgusted!

A promise of 20MB/4MB gets throttled to less than 101Kb/20Kb in my experience and I guestimate you need at least 230Kb upstream for the stuttering to stop and they throttle the upstream to less than 20Kbs if you have the means to see it, granted other factors apply) This is why most of us download something before we watch it, forget about streaming over the Internet!

And with the recent net neutrality loss in the DC courts (January 14, 2014), this is going to become more of a problem for those of us wishing to download and stream content. It's going to get ugly folks!

I highly recommend Firefox with the DownloadHelper Plugin in order to download content from the Internet. Don't worry about the proprietary Windows formatted content, there are always other options, usually on the same download site. My friends and I refuse to purchase music that can not be played on any of our Linux devices (mp3, handheld, tablet, laptop, PC, server). If everyone did this, proprietary formats would be useless. And I pay for some content, just not proprietary formatted content. Even in the days of VCRs, I did not want to own every movie that I watched, only the few that I really loved, thus using a PC like a VCR, as in DVR, simply is the way we have always been doing things. If a TV/Cable Series or Movie is that good, I go buy it, usually after multiple seasons our out. Got all 10 Seasons of Stargate for under $300 at Fry's Electronics in CA, think I paid under $199, but its been awhile. Bought DVR version of "Dave" too, wish all our presidents were like Dave! Love that movie.

You can pretty much download anything down to a Linux PC and then stream it from there 'locally' on your network. This basically uses your harddrive like your own personal DVR box, no bandwidth throttling by cable companies to cause your streaming to stutter or stop. And you simply erase it after you watch it, just like we did with VCR tape recorders back in the day.

Full Disclosure, I do not work for ZaReason, just met the owners at SCaLE in Los Angeles a few years back (SCaLE 7x in 2008 I believe) and was very impressed with them, their company and their products. Became a customer i

If you have the money to spend and do not want to build your own Linux media server (plan to do this with my older ZaReason Breeze 4220 PC), you could checkout ZaReason's product offerings. They build Linux boxes, you tell them what Linux distro you want on them.

ZaReason's small footprint media server, MediaBox 5440 (quad core power in a little bitty living space) or if you have room for a bigger box and are interested in 4 hot swappable sata bays, the Breeze Server 5880 looks like a very nice server.

Of course any Linux server can be made into a media server and any Linux PC can be turned into your personal DVR and a Linux server. Once you start using a Linux box this way, you will not want to 'stream' content over the internet, especially if you are a cable internet subscriber. Especially with a new LG 60 inch LED TV 1080p 300hz (Monitor wall anyone?) costing under $800! Just plug into your Linux PC and enjoy watching what you download!

Remember that 100% of Cable Internet providers throttle their bandwidth, meaning DSL is usually faster than their throttled cable bandwidth promises. DSL is usually cheaper too! The cable company's marketing bandwidth claims are lies based on this throttling!

(Run DD-WRT on a supported device to see your actual bandwidth in real time after the speed test ends, cable users will be shocked and disgusted!

A promise of 20MB/4MB gets throttled to less than 101Kb/20Kb in my experience and I guestimate you need at least 230Kb upstream for the stuttering to stop and they throttle the upstream to less than 20Kbs if you have the means to see it, granted other factors apply) This is why most of us download something before we watch it, forget about streaming over the Internet!

And with the recent net neutrality loss in the DC courts (January 14, 2014), this is going to become more of a problem for those of us wishing to download and stream content. It's going to get ugly folks!

I highly recommend Firefox with the DownloadHelper Plugin in order to download content from the Internet. Don't worry about the proprietary Windows formatted content, there are always other options, usually on the same download site. My friends and I refuse to purchase music that can not be played on any of our Linux devices (mp3, handheld, tablet, laptop, PC, server). If everyone did this, proprietary formats would be useless. And I pay for some content, just not proprietary formatted content. Even in the days of VCRs, I did not want to own every movie that I watched, only the few that I really loved, thus using a PC like a VCR, as in DVR, simply is the way we have always been doing things. If a TV/Cable Series or Movie is that good, I go buy it, usually after multiple seasons our out. Got all 10 Seasons of Stargate for under $300 at Fry's Electronics in CA, think I paid under $199, but its been awhile. Bought DVR version of "Dave" too, wish all our presidents were like Dave! Love that movie.

You can pretty much download anything down to a Linux PC and then stream it from there 'locally' on your network. This basically uses your harddrive like your own personal DVR box, no bandwidth throttling by cable companies to cause your streaming to stutter or stop. And you simply erase it after you watch it, just like we did with VCR tape recorders back in the day.

Full Disclosure, I do not work for ZaReason, just met the owners at SCaLE in Los Angeles a few years back (SCaLE 7x in 2008 I believe) and was very impressed with them, their company and their products. Became a customer i

http://zareason.com/shop/Laptops

Linux laptops, no Microsoft Tax.

http://zareason.com/

As it is impossible to sell a computer without Windows outside of a very small niche - most users don't even know what an OS is - that gives Microsoft such bargaining power that when they demand, OEMs have no choice but to comply.

That is completely false, see Apple, System76, Dell, Zareason and others. That is a pretty sizeable 'niche', but of course Microsoft have that much control because end users want Microsoft's product and those OEMs are invested in building products for them and (outside of Apple) those vendors of the alternative operating systems - and their supporters - spend all their time focussed on what Microsoft is doing and whinging about it rather than producing a product that people actually *want* to use. The only thing stopping Linux adoption is Linux and its community, just look at what happened when a competent company with a focus on the user took Linux and made it palatable for the masses - they squashed Microsoft and RIM in the smartphone market! Desktop Linux distros are built by developers for developers, that's why the vast majority of non-developers don't use them.

I'm thinking about a Lenovo T530 or perhaps something from zareason. They both have 1080p offerings for screen resolution (although with zareason, to get that resolution I'd be stuck with nVidia, since their intel graphics laptops have lower resolution.). I was wondering how well Linux deals with high resolution screens in regards to readability, font size and general appearance. I'm not even sure yet whether I will go for gnome, kde, xfce, or something else.

There are several makers of Linux laptops, at this point:
I've had great experiences buying from ZaReason, I know people who have had great experiences buying from System76, and ThinkPenguin is another option.

I'm writing this from a ZaReason UltraLap 430 (see recent review on Ars Technica, and a video review by Tom Merritt [note that there are a couple of mistakes about specs in the video]), which I love even more than the Thinkpad X-series that it replaced.

My wife has a ZaReason Alto 4330 that she loves even more than the Thinkpad X-series that it replaced.

For work, I've had several ZaReason machines--including some Alto 3880 laptops (the previous generation of what my wife now has). We got the Altos with 8-way multiprocessing (4-core + hyperthreading) and gobs of RAM, with run-times of 3-4 hours on a single charge and weight just over 4 lbs; they've made fantastic developers' laptops for us.

And, for what you get, the ZaReason machines aren't even that expensive (seriously--a monster-power Alto is only ~$1k).

If you ask for it, the computers even come with whatever username you want setup--you don't even have to fill your name into the account; you just turn the computers on and use them (if you don't ask for it, they infer it from the name on the order).

As I understand it from my friends, System 76 is basically the same way, except that they're Ubuntu only.

There are several makers of Linux laptops, at this point:
I've had great experiences buying from ZaReason, I know people who have had great experiences buying from System76, and ThinkPenguin is another option.

I'm writing this from a ZaReason UltraLap 430 (see recent review on Ars Technica, and a video review by Tom Merritt [note that there are a couple of mistakes about specs in the video]), which I love even more than the Thinkpad X-series that it replaced.

My wife has a ZaReason Alto 4330 that she loves even more than the Thinkpad X-series that it replaced.

For work, I've had several ZaReason machines--including some Alto 3880 laptops (the previous generation of what my wife now has). We got the Altos with 8-way multiprocessing (4-core + hyperthreading) and gobs of RAM, with run-times of 3-4 hours on a single charge and weight just over 4 lbs; they've made fantastic developers' laptops for us.

And, for what you get, the ZaReason machines aren't even that expensive (seriously--a monster-power Alto is only ~$1k).

If you ask for it, the computers even come with whatever username you want setup--you don't even have to fill your name into the account; you just turn the computers on and use them (if you don't ask for it, they infer it from the name on the order).

As I understand it from my friends, System 76 is basically the same way, except that they're Ubuntu only.

There are several makers of Linux laptops, at this point:
I've had great experiences buying from ZaReason, I know people who have had great experiences buying from System76, and ThinkPenguin is another option.

I'm writing this from a ZaReason UltraLap 430 (see recent review on Ars Technica, and a video review by Tom Merritt [note that there are a couple of mistakes about specs in the video]), which I love even more than the Thinkpad X-series that it replaced.

My wife has a ZaReason Alto 4330 that she loves even more than the Thinkpad X-series that it replaced.

For work, I've had several ZaReason machines--including some Alto 3880 laptops (the previous generation of what my wife now has). We got the Altos with 8-way multiprocessing (4-core + hyperthreading) and gobs of RAM, with run-times of 3-4 hours on a single charge and weight just over 4 lbs; they've made fantastic developers' laptops for us.

And, for what you get, the ZaReason machines aren't even that expensive (seriously--a monster-power Alto is only ~$1k).

If you ask for it, the computers even come with whatever username you want setup--you don't even have to fill your name into the account; you just turn the computers on and use them (if you don't ask for it, they infer it from the name on the order).

As I understand it from my friends, System 76 is basically the same way, except that they're Ubuntu only.

There are several makers of Linux laptops, at this point:
I've had great experiences buying from ZaReason, I know people who have had great experiences buying from System76, and ThinkPenguin is another option.

I'm writing this from a ZaReason UltraLap 430 (see recent review on Ars Technica, and a video review by Tom Merritt [note that there are a couple of mistakes about specs in the video]), which I love even more than the Thinkpad X-series that it replaced.

My wife has a ZaReason Alto 4330 that she loves even more than the Thinkpad X-series that it replaced.

For work, I've had several ZaReason machines--including some Alto 3880 laptops (the previous generation of what my wife now has). We got the Altos with 8-way multiprocessing (4-core + hyperthreading) and gobs of RAM, with run-times of 3-4 hours on a single charge and weight just over 4 lbs; they've made fantastic developers' laptops for us.

And, for what you get, the ZaReason machines aren't even that expensive (seriously--a monster-power Alto is only ~$1k).

If you ask for it, the computers even come with whatever username you want setup--you don't even have to fill your name into the account; you just turn the computers on and use them (if you don't ask for it, they infer it from the name on the order).

As I understand it from my friends, System 76 is basically the same way, except that they're Ubuntu only.

How about get a real computer so she can learn to program?

You can get one from ZaReason: http://zareason.com/ in the USA and http://zareason.co.nz/ in New Zealand. You are not limited to Ubuntu, you can also get Fedora, and other Linux distributions preloaded.

The major benefits of Linux is that nothing is hidden from you, and there are plenty of free applications - including those dealing with mathematics and science. Also you don't need to get anti-virus software.

For beginners programming, I recommend Python - one of many free programming languages. Even if she never wants to write her own application, programming is good for learning mathematics.

Remember most mobile devices such as Android phones and eBooks are based on Linux - not to mention Linux is also used on servers & supercomputers.

It is one thing to have an older MacBook and think about moving to a Linux distro when the current OS no longer supports your hardware, but unless you are a hobbyist who get pleasure from tinkering and wants to see "if I can...", it seems like a waste of time and money. Note that I am writing this on a 2009 MacBook Pro with Mountain Lion but I also use Linux for many aspects of my work. If I wanted a Linux laptop to just "get my work done," I would look carefully at one of these: http://zareason.com/shop/Laptops/ The key is to let your supplier work out the hardware details. That is part of why one buys from a given supplier. We are all free to tinker to our hearts content, but if our objective is to use the system to do something useful, it is typically more productive to get something that works on the OS of choice. This is hardly a new concept...

Actually, your Kindle was broken when you bought it. Unless you want your books to disappear while you are reading them, I'd suggest this rugged beast.

Except for the fact that every non-Apple x86 computer sold has Windows preinstalled, and when W8 comes out

No that is not correct.

every non-Apple x86 computer sold will have W8 preinstalled, along with secure boot.

And that stops you from running Linux on it how? I don't think you know what secureboot is and just see it as a thing that locks out non-Windows OSes. If you have a key and a signed linux bootloader you install that key using secureboot custom mode, if not then you can't use secureboot and you just turn it off, very simple, not a hard concept to grasp.

System 76
ZaReason

That's two. If you search, I'm certain you can find more.

I forgot to mention ZaReason also has a sale page, with some great steals sometimes, they occasionally put laptops there as well..
https://zareason.com/shop/Sale/

My only actual experience with one of the above vendors is ZaReason and it was a desktop (my current desktop working very nicely still).

both have nice websites with the obvious base choices for you being:
https://zareason.com/shop/Strata-6770.html
Stock at $849
with a 160GB SSD comes to $1,148

and for me the winner would be:

https://www.system76.com/laptops/model/gazp7
3rd Generation Intel Core i7-3610QM Processor
Stock at $899
With 180 GB SSD comes $1178

Btw, for what you are asking for, your budget seems high actually :).

Have you looked into some of the Linux computer suppliers? eg, Zareason, System 76, LinuxCertified, and EmperorLinux

If I'm not mistaken, some people have been able to get the Windows license fee dropped from their purchase. I don't know how much trouble it is to do that though.

Maybe someone else can comment on that.

Because for most people, Windows does just work. (Hate to burst your bubble.) I know where you're coming from, but for a lot of people, Linux just doesn't work. It's a lot better than it used to be, but if that Wifi adapter isn't recognized, they have no idea where to go from there.

Of course the operating system that is pre-installed on a PC has a huge advantage because the OEM has made sure all of the included hardware works with it. If you buy from one of the few vendors that supports an operating system other than Windows, the other operating system will enjoy the same advantage. For example, I'm using a MacBookPro. All of the hardware works well with OSX, but not all of it works with Linux because Apple's firmware doesn't set up the hardware completely correctly in PC BIOS mode and some of the Linux drivers are missing for the new devices (I'm looking at you Broadcom). Apple does provide some drivers for Windows, but not all of the hardware is fully functional, including the Intel GPU. When I buy a laptop from one of the Linux-supporting vendors like zareason or System76 all of the hardware will work fine with Linux. The reason far more people have trouble getting hardware to work with Linux than Windows is simply that they've bought PCs intended to run Windows and ones designed to run Linux are rare.

For most people, Windows just works until it doesn't. Quite often, that's because they were careless and got malware. I've seen and had to clean up many such machines. Very little of that malware relies on modifying bootloaders or Windows kernel, so UEFI secure boot won't do a lick of good against it. No machine running a desktop operating system can seriously be called an appliance like a fridge or car, least of all Windows. Phones and tablets can be appliances as long as no third-party apps are installed, but there's only so much complexity a machine can have before it ceases to be an appliance.

I'm very happy with my laptop from http://zareason.com/ they select hardware with Linux support in mind. They might not have all the features you list but it would be worth talking to them about it.

I am really thinking the submitters should try out Emperor Linux. ZaReason might also be a good place to look, or possibly System76.

Check out System76 http://www.system76.com/laptops/ and ZaReason http://zareason.com/shop/Laptops/. They sell laptops that come pre-installed with Ubuntu. I've never used one so can't comment on their quality but at least you are guaranteed to have all the hardware working out of the box.

E.g http://zareason.com/
but there are many like that out there.

http://zareason.com/shop/home.php

Just when I had bought a new lenovo with windows 7 on it.

PS: I'm not a spam machine.

Yeah, it would be good to get it from a supplier who has actually heard of Linux. So System 76, or maybe Emperor Linux or The Linux Laptop or Linux-Certified or ZaReason etc.

System76 and ZaReason are both good dedicated Linux laptop companies. Personally, I have a Dell n-series laptop .

http://www.system76.com/ http://www.zareason.com/ Nope.

ZaReason is another company that also sells laptops (and desktops) without Windows installed. They offer a choice of various versions of Linux such as Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Edubuntu, Linux Mint, Debian, Fedora,or no operating system at all.

I have had a ZaReason desktop computer for almost a year, so far, but they also sell laptops.

ZaReason

ZaReason and System76 sell both laptop and desktop computers with Linux pre-installed. About a year ago, I bought a ZaReason computer and have been quite happy with it. Mine is a desktop computer.

When buying my ZaReason computer, I got to choose between Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Edubuntu, Debian, Linux Mint, Fedora, or no operating system.

I am not sure if those are available in Europe Europe or not. I live here in the U.S.

• ZaReason
• System76