That's a great dream and all, but it isn't some big conspiracy by Microsoft and the hardware vendors that's keeping it from happening. It's the fact that a vast majority of software that people want/need is non-existent or crap on other platforms. If a customer comes in looking to replace their aging Windows XP computer they use for business and I suggest a system with whatever Linux distro is popular that week, their first question is going to be "Can I use Quickbooks?" When I reply "No." the conversation is immediately over. There's simply no incentive for the average consumer to switch to a system they don't and likely won't fully understand, just because it's not Windows.
The majority of people want to go into a store, buy a computer, and have it work. They don't know or care what an Operating System is, as long as it runs the store-bought software they want to run on it. Giving people a half-dozen different combinations of hardware and software is only going to confuse them, prompt them to buy the cheaper product with DistroOfTheWeek Linux on it, and return it because it doesn't work the way they're used to. I could be mistaken, but I thought Dell tried selling systems without operating systems a few years back and gave up on it because shockingly, nobody was interested.
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What does this have to do with the new iPhone bending?
This attitude is far more damaging to the adoption of other operating systems than anything Microsoft could do.
That's a great dream and all, but it isn't some big conspiracy by Microsoft and the hardware vendors that's keeping it from happening. It's the fact that a vast majority of software that people want/need is non-existent or crap on other platforms. If a customer comes in looking to replace their aging Windows XP computer they use for business and I suggest a system with whatever Linux distro is popular that week, their first question is going to be "Can I use Quickbooks?" When I reply "No." the conversation is immediately over. There's simply no incentive for the average consumer to switch to a system they don't and likely won't fully understand, just because it's not Windows.
The majority of people want to go into a store, buy a computer, and have it work. They don't know or care what an Operating System is, as long as it runs the store-bought software they want to run on it. Giving people a half-dozen different combinations of hardware and software is only going to confuse them, prompt them to buy the cheaper product with DistroOfTheWeek Linux on it, and return it because it doesn't work the way they're used to. I could be mistaken, but I thought Dell tried selling systems without operating systems a few years back and gave up on it because shockingly, nobody was interested.