Hi Theo and all, On Fri, Jan 29, 2010 at 19:26, Theo Schmidt <[email protected]> wrote:
> There are also a few other Dell laptops with preinstalled Ubuntu, but I'd > hesitate to buy from a company which "recommends Windows 7" on every webpage. > Even if there are only interested in profits, it leaves some doubt with > regards > to the quality of the ubuntu configuration. This is the result of a kickback deal that Microsoft offers these companies, and Dell has no choice about what they write on that page. They have to recommend Windows. If you look at PC manufacturers' websites and even printed material advertising PCs and mainboards, you will find the sentence "Company XYZ recommends Windows 7" etc. The sentence is always the same and is often located in the top right. This is probably according to a CI document from Microsoft that states how large and how prominently the sentence is displayed. During the Vista phase, companies taking part in this campaign even recommended Vista, when no analyst in the entire industry would have recommended that... Companies taking part in this Microsoft program either receive special prices or advertising kickbacks from Microsoft. Even Belinea, which someone mentioned as selling Ubuntu PCs, has the sentence on every page. It's one of the strategies Microsoft uses to ensure its continued total market dominance. Another trick is requiring OEMs to preinstall an operating system on all PCs. Of course "an operating system" just means "any operating system", but the wording of the clause might be so that OEMs believe they have to ship a Microsoft operating system. If you ask a bunch of OEMs, you will often get that sort of reply. So it's not like Dell actually has any choice in what words they use, they _have_ to recommend Windows because not recommending Windows would mean their competitors who _do_ recommend Windows earn more money. I would love to get my hands on an original Microsoft contract to see what this deal actually includes. - rca -- Ubuntu-ch mailing list [email protected] https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-ch
