Windows vs Linux

[pfeiffep]

Just received a Micro Center flyer in the mail. I carefully looked for computers that had other than Windows or Mac OSes preinstalled. It was pretty pathetic since I found only 1 and that was a Chrome Book.

Windows 8 isn't popular, but M$ has a marketing genius (or a real heavy hand ) since HP & Dell (2 prominent manufactures in the flyer) sell their system with Ubuntu Linux installed.

[mastablasta]

depends where you buy them. i was in Asia last year. most computers there have no OS. some have Ubuntu. Sony had Windows. but they were more pricy than the rest.

while where i live you can buy HP with SUSE EL and Dells with Ubutnu. Lenovo come with no OS oftenly. Acer has Linpus Linux sometimes. ASUS often free DOS (so no OS). Didn't look other brands. though more high end maschines come windows preisntalled. but then again their components are not supported in linux mostly...

desktops mostly have no OS as they are mostly assembled by the companies that sell them. i did find a couple of Dells with Ubuntu on it.

[pfeiffep]

I would like to go for Windows it has all favorable features than Linux..Lots of people get positive results of using Windows..It is flabbergast than any other operating system..

Most OSes have their place - I prefer the freedom of using Linux. That being said I still rely on Win 7 for some functions

[grahammechanical]

Microsoft also has something else. A very large advertising budget. It is likely that the advertising is being paid for by Microsoft. It is an offer that any business would find too good to refuse.

[pfeiffep]

Microsoft also has something else. A very large advertising budget. It is likely that the advertising is being paid for by Microsoft. It is an offer that any business would find too good to refuse.

+1

[aysiu]

There's no secret to this. Manufacturers will sell what sells. They are driven by profitability (if they're a publicly traded company, they actually have to be). I assure you if the Ubuntu Dell laptops were flying off the shelves, there would be more Ubuntu Dell laptops, and more Ubuntu HP laptops, and more Ubuntu Toshiba laptops, etc.

I'm a big Linux fan and have used Linux personally since 2005. I tried to vote with my wallet (bought an Eee PC with Xandros, an HP Mini with Ubuntu, a Chromebook with ChromeOS, a Mac Mini... basically anything that doesn't come preinstalled with Windows), but I'm clearly in the minority. Many Linux users will even buy Windows preinstalled just to have Windows as a dual-boot.

If I were to start a business selling computers and wanted to make money... I would not have the flagship product be a Ubuntu (or other desktop Linux distro) preinstalled computer.

[monkeybrain2012]

Microsoft also has something else. A very large advertising budget. It is likely that the advertising is being paid for by Microsoft. It is an offer that any business would find too good to refuse.

MS sells these integrated packages (MicroSoft Solutiions or whatever hell they call them) which basically lock their clients in because to get one part to work you have to have another etc, In general proprietary software is difficult (or illegal) to work with other software and MS comes with its own ecology and incompatible formats (think Office), once you become dependent on it it is difficult and costly to get out (kind of like an addiction). Open source gives you power, MS takes it away.

[arpanaut]

It's really very simple, why stock a product that there is little demand for?
Retailers are in business to make money, why tie up money stocking an item that will likely take a long time to sell.

The Law of Supply and Demand. Any sane business will adhere to this very closely.
At the present time there is very little demand for systems with Linux OS.

[SeijiSensei]

Believe me there are a lot of Linux users in the area served by the Microcenter in Cambridge, Massachusetts, which is located between the Harvard and MIT campuses. Nevertheless the only Linux computer I see in the latest flyer is for MC's bottom-of-the-line box from their in-house brand, "PowerSpec." It has a Celeron with 2 GB of memory and sells for $250 with 12.10 pre-installed. If any location were likely to cater to the needs of Linux users, a store next to MIT would be at the top of my list. My bet is that a lot of the Linux users build their own boxes, or buy Windows machines and convert them to dual-boot or Linux-only.

[prusswan]

If you really must suffer the experience, go with Windows 7 at least.