Why You Can't Buy a Naked PC

ZDOne writes "A piece up on ZDNet looks at the issue of naked PCs. ZDNet UK phoned around all the major PC vendors and not one of them would sell a machine without Windows on it. IT professionals are being forced to adopt Microsoft's operating systems — even if they tell their PC supplier they want a system free of Microsoft software. On the other hand, even if it's almost impossible to buy a PC without an operating system installed, companies like Dell and HP are now committed to supporting Linux as well. 'Murray believes there is a market for Linux in the UK but is also aware of the issues facing any large supplier who wants to make Linux boxes available. "It means diverting production lines and that is a lot of money and so we have to prove the business case," he said. However, he made it clear that he is enthusiastic about the idea and wants to make it work. "We just have to show it is worthwhile," he said.'"

Comments

Err, what about Dell's n series?

[Mr. Hankey]

Dell sells the n series with FreeDOS. That's about as close to a naked PC as you can get. They also sell workstation-class systems (the Precision series) with Linux pre-installed, we buy them at work. You can even download drivers that work from their site, as I found out recently with a Precision 690 running WS4. Their sound drivers went in, and after removing the included non-functional driver everything worked great. I can't complain. HP also sells Linux systems, and we have a few.

Aside from those vendors, and numerous others that specialize in Linux, I build my own systems for home use. Not a one of them has ever come with Windows.

Re:Why does it matter if it's free?

[JesseL]

The last few new Dells I've dealt with had a bare minimum of crap installed, Google Desktop was pretty much all there was.

Re:I blame the Religious Right

[Anonymous Coward]

Not just Bush, the Religious Right and the Christian Coalition.

If anyone talked about seeing Ballmer naked, we'd all be hitting the speed dial to call our lawyers... :-O

Re:Better than nothing.

[will592]

Ummm, no offense intended but you don't need a 'second computer' or 'broadband' to get your hands on an operating system. What in the world do you think people did in the 'olden days' when they bought computers which came with no operating system OR modem.

Re:Why does it matter if it's free?

[The_Wilschon]

The laptop came with a 17 inch widescreen, and the 128 MB ATI card driver suggested that I use the maximum resolution, but I opted instead for 1024x768 since everything would be easier to see. The owner changed that right off, and all I could do was point out the very small text, and the reasoning for my resolution choice.

You do realize that font sizes are not fixed permanently set in stone forever by edict from on high? If the text is too small, make it bigger by increasing the font size. Don't compromise the resolution of everything on the system just to make the text bigger. Geez... when all you have is a hammer......

Re:Why does it matter if it's free?

[PitaBred]

Try buying machines from Dell/HP/IBM's business divisions rather than the consumer PC's. They tend to be much leaner on the crapware.

Re:Why does it matter if it's free?

[meme lies]

The last few new Dells I've dealt with had a bare minimum of crap installed, Google Desktop was pretty much all there was.


Where they bought through the "Home" or "Business" sections of Dell's site?

Because (and this is no secret, and not limited to Dell) the computers sold to "home" and "student" users are the ones loaded with garbage. The business models are pretty much clean, for obvious reasons. And the deals are usually better, too...

'Bare bones PCs'

[flyingfsck]

My guess is that the writer could not find any PCs without MS Windows, because he typed the wrong search terms into Google. There is no shortage of 'bare bones PCs' on the web.

List of vendors selling no-OS computers

[Anonymous Coward]

No-OS, Computers without Operating System (for those who want to install their own Operating System):

  http://www.abestpc.com/laptop.htm Laptops

  http://www.adamant.com/ Desktops Laptops

  http://www.avadirect.com/ Desktops Laptops
  http://www.com4.nl/ Desktops
  http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/ Desktops Laptops

  http://www.goldenelectronics.co.uk/ Desktops
  http://www.hypersonic-pc.com/ Desktops Laptops

  http://www.ion-technologies.com/ Laptops
  http://store.madtux.org/ Desktops/

  http://www.laptopchoice.com.au/ Laptops
  http://www.mtechlaptops.com/ Laptops

  http://www.mwave.com/ Laptops
  http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/ Desktops Laptops

  http://www.pcsforeveryone.com/ Laptops
  http://www.powernotebooks.com/ Laptops

  http://www.rjtech.com/ Laptops
  http://www.topmicrousa.com/laptops-notebooks.html Laptops

  http://www.unitedmicro.com/ Desktops Laptops
  http://xnbs.com/ Laptops

  http://www.xtremenotebooks.com/ Laptops
  http://www.zepto.com/ Laptops
 
  http://lxer.com/module/forums/t/23168/

Re:List of vendors selling no-OS computers

[josepha48]

FYI: some of those are overpriced, old underpowered laptops and computers.. I think people want top of the line fast and new with NO OS.

If you look at the first link you posted they have laptops with 128 Megs of RAM. Wee I can install an OS.

Re:List of vendors selling no-OS computers

[the_womble]

Yes, that list is out of date.

This looks good: http://www.efficientpc.co.uk/systems/

There are also a few places that have a limited rage (sometimes one) of Linux PCs: http://www.clown-fish.com/shop/index.php?cPath=38 (they have plenty of Linux compatible barebone systems though http://www.clown-fish.com/shop/index.php?cPath=3) and http://www.thelinuxshop.co.uk/catalog/index.php?cP ath=30.

Of course in the US there is http://system76.com/

Re:List of vendors selling no-OS computers

[dcam]

What is worse it is a P4 laptop. You can also use it is a toasted sandwich maker, but not on battery.

Re:Why does it matter if it's free?

[Hortensia Patel]

If the text is too small, make it bigger by increasing the font size. Don't compromise the resolution of everything on the system just to make the text bigger.

In an ideal world, you'd be absolutely right. In the current one, not so much. I have an old Dell laptop with a 15.4" screen at 1920x1200, and WinXP really doesn't cope all that well. Changing the DPI setting (the "correct" solution) broke pretty much everything. Keeping the standard-but-wrong DPI and cranking up font sizes used to mostly work except for dialog boxes, which go badly messed up. At some point MS gave up and changed their policy via an update; now, dialog box text is always sized for 96dpi and cannot be enlarged.

Ironically, the only thing that manages layout flawlessly and respects font size prefs is Eclipse's SWT toolkit. MS stuff is absolutely nowhere.

You CAN buy a Linux PC

[awpoopy]

Ubuntu Certified Linux pre-installed for you. http://system76.com/

Re:Why does it matter if it's free?

[xSauronx]

christ. i work for a wirless isp doing installations, part of which often involves configuring a static ip and dns servers. simple enough, but often infuriating.

one today had a new dell they had hardly ever turned on. it showed. 4 programs popped-up when windows started, nagging the fuck out of me, and norton popped up while i tried to setup their email account in outlook, and something else popped up when the connection was active and i opened a browser to demonstrate the service to the customer. meh.

Re:Why does it matter if it's free?

[Ant P.]

That's one thing I found pretty funny about Windows - the UI hasn't progressed at all in usability since 1994, it just causes more epileptic seizures.

Re:Yes, clients as well

[lukas84]

If you eat the cake, you don't have it anymore. That's the point.

We have a similar saying here in switzerland:

"Du chasch nöd de füefer unds weggli ha"

"You can't have 5 cents and a piece of bread"