More OEMs should ship devices with Linux as an option, discounted by the Windows license cost.
Here in Brazil, a lot of vendors are offering laptops with linux, but they do this just to offer a lower price, and put the most weird distro possible, that no one knew existed, so everyone who buys have to install their own os. The bad thing about it is that it creates a really bad first impression about linux on common users, who mostly end up asking the tech person from the family to install windows for them
Edit: another random fun fact: in order to offer a lower price, some brands around here also ship laptops with freedos, don’t ask me why.
Why don’t they just install Mint, Zorin, or even xUbuntu (XFCE versions of each)…
That’s 3 examples with actual support and a user base >3 edgelord cat bois.
I ask myself the same question. I have no idea. Mine is from vaio and came with some sort of modded debian that looked like a stripped down win xp with custom repos that didn’t even load properly.
You’d think that installing a niche distro like that is more difficult than one of the big ‘plug and play’ ones. Meaning they actively put more work into it, how strange.
Most distro maintainers would expect something for commercial licences. Can’t have them take all your hard earned money! Max I can do is 0$.
All the distroes are under GPL, so there is no need
No they wouldn’t. Where did you even get that idea from?
They’re usually gpl licensed. You can do whatever you want with it (including selling it for a bazillion monies) as long as you give the code too.
The Framework laptops have been selling out with backlog orders now. But with new models recently out, all the Linux ones sold out well before the Windows ones.
I think it just kind of goes to say, if you know a bit about computers, Linux is a go-to. Of course those that are a bit tech-savvy as well would just get a Windows one, clear it off and install the distro of their choice. Plus once upgrade is done, my OS and files are all there like nothing happened. Things like setting up Windows again on a new device or new install is like a full day task.
The problem there is Windows still has negative cost for OEMs due to all the bloatware they bundle.
They get paid for that McAfee and Epic Games icon.
OEMs: Sorry, best I can do is tripling the amount of pre-installed bloatware that I get kickbacks on, to not only offset the cost but raise profits more
they actually make money on many of those windows preinstalls due to all the bullshit they get paid to put on.
The fun part is that they can bundle an equal amount of bloatware on linux for even more revenue.
The actually funny part is that they can’t. Most of the bloatware is not available on Linux because it doesn’t support it.
I am starting to thing this entire thing is some weird orchestrated pile of bull shit to get pwople to stop buyingPCs because its cheaper to use rented VMs with AI spyware built in. Just point your old “slow” compiter at the server in your browser (only spyware Chrome supported). Then they can DRM everytjing and charge subscriptions.
Bingo!
It was always believed that Windows OS was a “loss leader” for Microsoft.
Windows OS will never show a profit, when you take into account the development and testing time and effort. I mean, a one time purchase that’s expected to be supported for years!?!
Side note: This also explains why Windows 11 is de-evolving into an AI generated, ad ridden, telemetry gathering, cesspool of an OS (“we gotta make money somehow - think of the share holders”)
But, what Windows had done is create a platform for Microsoft to upsell (and vendor lock-in) profitable applications like Office, Outlook, Teams, etc.
However, that business model doesn’t work anymore. As, all of Microsoft’s products are now in the cloud. They’re all subscription bases, which means predictable and indefinite revenue. User’s don’t need to be running on Windows - they just need a web-browser or thin-client. Microsoft already has people (brainwashed into) wanting Office - they don’t need to _force _ people into trying Office.
tl;dr: Developing and supporting Windows OS is a financial drain for Microsoft, and they’re doing everything they can to scuttle it.
the development and testing time and effort.
Ngl you had me in the first half…
Amid ram price hikes Linux has decided to double its license fee. It will now be available for $0
That’s twice as much as I was paying, I’m going to write a strongly worded email to that penguin guy
That’s twice as much as I was paying
Only half as much as I was paying, though, so I’m pretty happy about it.
Gotta pay off those data center loans.
Queue the new subscription cloud version of Windows that force-feeds you whatever the fuck Microslop has a hard on for this week. Advertisements in your start menu, open video stream everything you are doing, slop token credits if you answers surveys about what you are doing so CoPilot can train off of your screen recordings, un-uninstallable CoPilot/OneDrive of course, free license for Microslop to use anything OneDrive ingests (everything it manages to discover) without limitation…
To me this is positive news. The less appealing Windows machines are, the better. Let Windows PC rot peacefully.
While I understand your sentiment about Windows, this is how you end up in a world filled with iPad kids who become adults who accept technology that they don’t own.
If you are building a new machine for home use and not starting with Linux it’s crazy to me. The worst that can happen is you try it for a month or two, hate it, and then buy a windows license.
Even at that you can dual boot. You could ween yourself from one to the other to build a daily driver. As Linux has several windows emulators(heroic for example) that you can install and run all your fav window programs anyways.
Linux is like so zero risk it is ridiculous.
They’re trying to kill the home PC. They’ll have all of the computing power and we’ll have subscription access.
And they’d get away with it too if it wasn’t for those damn Linux distributions.
Look at the long game. Installing a Linux distro is great. But what happens when your GPU/CPU/SSD dies and you can’t afford or buy replacements?
They got more time and can afford to wait us out.
Or when they lock the bootloader ala android phones and you’re stuck with the default Windows on your laptop?
Sure in terms in computing power. But Microsoft still needs you to be able to access a windows device so that they can push you onto their subscriptions. I think in this case, they think people will just cough up the extra costs to get windows. Of course at one point even regular people will consider Linux. And that is when Microsoft will break.
I feel like Linux needs to be just a little bit more accessible to the tech-illiterate too. It is getting closer but go show some uninitiated person a Linux forum where power users are talking about maintaining their system daily or weekly, the average person is going to still nope out. I run Linux and and Windows, but if Mac could run more games I’d think about giving them a try because they all suck in their own special way.
but go show some uninitiated person a Windows forum where power users are talking about maintaining their system daily or weekly, the average person is going to still nope out.
The OS is immaterial, showing anyone uninitiated the shit power users do, you’ll get that reaction. If you show me, a professional windows admin and a homelab linux admin, a Mac power user forum and my eyes will cross. But for windows or potentially Linux, it’s fine. Don’t use the users’ lack of understanding as a mark against it, because that same mark is on every OS.
Linux itself has been usable by the tech illiterate for over a decade. My dead mother could use it just fine after I got sick of reinstalling windows, and she’s been gone damned near that long. Sure, they have to have assistance in getting it installed right now because even the windows terminal terrifies them, but get it installed and a base configuration in place and it takes care of itself for the most part.
I have no idea why this makes sense? What about hardware getting more expensive justifies the license for software going up? Is this just because they can?
Volumes are going to be down, but they want the same revenue, so they increase unit price, comfy in the reality that it will still be, percentage wise, not worth it for most to care. Will it make it unaffordable for some? Probably not appreciably more than the hardware is doing all by itself.
So in short, it is just because they can.
Microsoft seems intent on pushing people to alternatives. Not only did they quietly remove the higher RAM recommendation, but now the OS is more expensive.
So what people are likely to get an underpowered computer that costs more if they have to buy a new laptop. On the tail of Apple recently releasing a relatively nice and cheap laptop to much fanfare, no less.
It sounds like we’re about to see a repeat of the Windows Vista days. Where people hate Windows because it’s slow and horrible, and it is slow and horrible because it’s running on an underspecced machine barely meant to run the previous version of windows.