Is the Dell/Microsoft Alliance Fracturing?

An anonymous reader asks: "Dell has historically been the most loyal of all Microsoft's partners. Even today, it is very difficult to avoid paying the Microsoft tax on most of Dell's desktops and notebooks. Recently, two things have made the news where Dell is not toeing the Microsoft line. First, was the announcement that Dell is trialling shipping desktop and notebook PCs in the UK with Firefox as the default browser, instead of IE (announcement confirmed here). Today we have news that Dell is not going to support HD-DVD, despite reported incentives that recently induced HP to do so. So, what are some theories as to why Dell has lately been less of a friend to Microsoft, and what does this mean for the future? Does it mean that it might soon become possible to order Dell's full line of personal systems with Linux installed, or no OS/FreeDOS to save the Microsoft tax?"

Comments

Re:They're no different...

[hahafaha]

Might I add that had they installed GNU/Linux, thier tech support would probably have a lot more to deal with than simply those who got a virus.

Just imagine:

Tech support: Dell Tech support. How can I help you?

User: Hi, what is the /usr and /dev directories

Tech support: The former has important commands and libraries. The latter has devices for file systems.

User: Oh, well I just ran rm -r /usr /dev as root. How can I fix that?

Re:They're no different...

[name773]

one of the best ways to learn how to use a computer is by futzing with it, push all the buttons and see what happens

granted some basic knowledge helps an awful lot to start out, but experience is key.

Re:Microsoft^h^h^h^h^h^h^h^h^hApple Tax

[klubar]

Why don't the smug apple users ever complain about the Macintosh tax? Can I buy G5 and run linux on it without paying the Apple OS tax.

I already have OS X on an old machine and want to upgrade to a newer one--yet I still have to buy another copy of the OS.

I bought a home three-pack of the OS, yet if I buy another machine...I still have to buy the OS again.

It seems like there are many fewer OS options from Apple yet no one complains about paying the tax.

Also, Macs come with their own shovelware (to some useful, to others just clutter) like iTunes, iMovie, quicktime...although posible, not easy to remove (actually I think QT, with its really annoying paid upgrade ads, is required for some components of the OS like help.)

Re:Microsoft^h^h^h^h^h^h^h^h^hApple Tax

[deaddrunk]

Perhaps because OS X isn't crap.