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Dell To Offer Windows-Less PCs

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the backdoor-in-the-fine-print dept.

An anonymous reader submits: "As a follow-up to the Slashdot story Dell No Longer Selling Systems w/o Microsoft OS, News.com is reporting that Dell will sell systems without Windows. Microsoft's new licensing terms stipulate they can't sell PC's without an OS (hence the removal of the NoOS option), so Dell will be offering FreeDOS as an option for some computers. It will come with the computer, but not installed, so that users may install any other OS that they wish. It's a very creative interpretation of Microsoft's licensing terms, and one I imagine Microsoft didn't have in mind."

5 of 547 comments (clear)

  1. Hey, NEC is also doing that! by chip_hk · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I have get a few new NEC PCs that are having FreeDOS installed, too.

    That just happened a month ago.

  2. Re:What a heap of crap? by rknop · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Why not FreeDOS? It doesn't matter. It's just a token.

    How much space does FreeDOS take? Perhaps only one CD, or less?

    It's pretty clear that Dell does not expect anybody (or much of anybody) to actuall install the included FreeDOS. The FreeDOS is just a maneuver to get around a loophole in Microsoft's licencing agreement. Now they can say, hey, we included an OS, we're abiding by their terms. What they're really doing is selling an OS-less PC, plus an extra CD that adds very little to their costs and might even be useful to a tiny fraction of their customers.

    (Heck, I'd rather get a FreeDOS PC than the useless Windows driver disks I get with every piece of hardware I buy. Even when I've installed the drivers on my wife's Windows box so that she can use the printers over the network, I discover they're broken and I have to get updated drivers from the web anyway.)

    -Rob

  3. Re:Shouldn't n-Series Computers Cost Less? by friedmud · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The reason they dont cost less is you are STILL PAYING for windows - and Dell still pays microsoft for that computer!

    I kid you not! This is just Dell trying to get back into our good graces. It is all a PR stunt - "Look we don't like M$ either!!!!" as they hand MS money under the table.

    Don't take this as a win for all of us alternative OS people. M$ is still getting their cash in spite of being found a monopoly.

    Derek

  4. Re:Two key points from the article by renehollan · · Score: 5, Interesting
    The systems will cost just as much as if you'd ordered them with Windows in the first place.

    Are you sure?

    At my last place of employment, we ordered about six Dell PCs for Linux-based development platforms. They came with a Microsoft OS (NT, I think). I called Dell, and they were quite happy to credit us about US$65 per license for every unopened OS installation media package that we sent back, and took our word that we'd reformat the hard disk without ever booting into the OS that was pre-installed.

    It certainly improved my opinion of Dell at the time.

    --
    You could've hired me.
  5. how about looking at it like this... by Hooya · · Score: 5, Interesting
    i believe that MS actually asked Dell to ship FreeDOS for one reason and one reason only.

    MS is in the middle of an antitrust trial the core of which is the accusation that MS strongarms OEMs with exclusive deals. Now wouldn't it be convinient for MS to demo the fact that an OEM could indeed *not have to* ship with MS OSs even with the existing licences with MS. Enter Dell and FreeDOS. Who is actually using FreeDOS (well i am but i don't think that's the norm.)? From a shippers perspective Linux/xBSD would have been a better choice because of the market share. If Dell truly wanted to provide alternative OSs for the benefit of consumers wouldn't they pick from the list of OSs that are higher up in market-share-ranked list? ie. since they ship the top ranked OS -- windows -- woulnd't they pick the second next? But then MS wouldn't like that too much now would it? Solution: ship FreeDOS with the machines -- that way people are at least still in the DOS mindset. Then MS goes back to court saying -- "Look, Look, the OEMs can and are shipping machines with other OSs. We didn't strongarm them into exclusivity!! The OEMs *can* choose other OSs and that's not restricted by our *existing* license. The only reason they haven't taken advantage of that is because they didn't want to. Not because we threatened them in any way!"

    So me thinks this idea hatched somewhere in the northwest US. NOT at Dell. Do you really think that if Dell wanted to piss off MS by shipping an alternative OS they would ship FreeDOS as opposed to something with more demand -- linux? Unless of course MS wanted Dell to *ship* (or at least look like they offer) another OS. That OS would have to be close to MSs own. But very very outdated version of MSs own.