SillyDog701 Message Centre

[Antony]

Why do you need to pay for Windows license if you are not going to use it or you hate Windows so much?

For those computer want to install Linux or other operating system themselves, a laptop without Windows pre-installed is now available from Dick Smith Electronics (New Zealand). (Computerworld NZ reports.)

I fell there're changes in agreements between manufacturers/retailers and Microsoft. Companies can now choose not to bundle Windows into all of their products. Microsoft used to set unfair advantage for themselves, including requiring retailers not to include other party's software (e.g. Netscape browsers), and compulsory inclusion of Microsoft Works (suite) for much cheaper OEM fee.

You might argue that from small computer store, you can buy a system with Windows; but for a nation-wide store, this is something unusual.
I have no idea if Dick Smith Electronics (Australia) will have the same offer.

UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; U; PPC Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/85.7 (KHTML, like Gecko) Safari/85.6

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MozInfo701 | MacCentre701 | AntBlog701 | don't steal music.

[Josh]

This isn't new. There are many companies who will sell you a PC without Windows.

UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.6) Gecko/20040206 Firefox/0.8

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Josh
SD701 Moderator
User of Safari 4.0.3 on

[keith]

whats the point in a windowsless harddrive? chances are it won't work for XP and ME, u'd need an activation number thinger wouldn't ya?
keith

UserAgent: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 5.5; Windows 98; Win 9x 4.90)

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KEITH

[DJGM]

The point of selling a PC without an OS, is for people that want to install the OS of their own choice.

UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; U; PPC Mac OS X Mach-O; en-US; rv:1.6) Gecko/20040113

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SeaMonkey = Swiss Army Knife: It's versatile, reliable, and contains useful tools.
Windows Internet Explorer = Old Swiss Cheese: Full of holes, and it stinks!

[keith]

but then XP or ME wouldn't be able to be installed because they need a certain matching serial number don't they?

UserAgent: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.0)

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KEITH

[DJGM]

If they want to install Microsoft Windows, they would need the product key printed on the yellow
label on the back of the CD case, on the printed documentation, or somewhere on the packaging.

If they want to install a Linux distribution, then no product key or serial number is needed.

Computer stores that sell PC's without any pre-installed OS, assume that those that buy
such PC's, already own a copy of a suitable Windows or Linux/UNIX operating system.

UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; U; PPC Mac OS X Mach-O; en-US; rv:1.6) Gecko/20040113

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SeaMonkey = Swiss Army Knife: It's versatile, reliable, and contains useful tools.
Windows Internet Explorer = Old Swiss Cheese: Full of holes, and it stinks!