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HP's Windows Bundle Trouble

Posted by Zonk on from the i'm-sorry-please-enter-your-option-again dept.

narramissic writes "A French consumer group has filed 3 lawsuits against HP, saying the company's practice of selling consumer PCs with Windows pre-installed violates a French law that 'prohibits linking the functionality of a product to another product' — not to mention that consumers wind up paying for an unwanted OS. For its part, HP contends that it is not in violation of the law because the OS is integral to the PC. 'The PC without an OS is not a product because it doesn't work,' said Alain Spitzmuller, legal affairs director for HP France. 'We believe the market is for products that work.'"

4 of 697 comments (clear)

  1. Re:It has a bios, doesn't it? by swv3752 · · Score: 1, Redundant

    What Windows only hardware? NIC? Video Card? Multimedia Card Reader? DVDRW? Sound? Modem? TV Tuner?

    Modem just require a proprietary driver or HP flexing a little muscle. TV tuners will require a bit of selection or again a bit of muscle. HP is big enough to require thier vendors to provide a Linux driver.

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    Just a Tuna in the Sea of Life
  2. Re:He's an idiot by MykeAbner · · Score: 1, Redundant

    Last I checked, Newegg wasn't including a copy of Windows every time I bought a computer from them.

  3. Re:He's an idiot by Nicholas+Evans · · Score: 1, Redundant

    What is your point? That's HP's problem, not mine. And so what if people start buying Linux with their PCs instead of Windows? HP would be able to make a hell of a lot more per Linux machine sols, anyway.

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    The Yasashii Syndicate ||
  4. Re:He's an idiot by tepples · · Score: 1, Redundant

    So, you can do something with a computer with NO OS on it?

    You mean like put in a *noppix or *buntu or Gentoo CD?