531
More OEMs should ship devices with Linux as an option, discounted by the Windows license cost.
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
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
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.
load more comments
(6 replies)
im surprised they don't just do the underhanded method of acquiring windows.
well I'd imagine theres some stores willing to oblige doing that.
curious sakes, what distro do they preload on customers.
load more comments
(3 replies)
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.
meanwhile on the Dell website
EDIT: $100 of that difference comes from Win11 requiring an SSD upgrade from 512GB to 1TB
load more comments
(5 replies)
They used to have agreements to make it difficult to do so. I don’t know if that’s still the case but it’s pretty awful. I think OEMs had to pay licenses for every machine shipped regardless if it had a windows license.
The other issue is that oems have a large amount of compatibility and support built up over the years for windows. They also know their customers can deal with Microsoft for “support” and ignore driver and support costs for whatever distro of Linux they were to choose.
Sure an OEM could lead the way and show everyone else the path to freedom but think of the shareholders
load more comments
(1 replies)
load more comments
(4 replies)
I LOOOOOOVE not using Windows.
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.
Excuse you, that penguin guy has a name
Tux has had enough of this bullshit
load more comments
(1 replies)
load more comments
(3 replies)
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.
load more comments
(1 replies)
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.
try it for a month or two
By then the price of said Windows license would quadruple.
load more comments
(1 replies)
A year of Linux desktops indeed. I've switched PC and a laptop to Linux and guess what? Works better, faster, more secure and I fucking love it.
Never ever going back to Windows. I might run win10 in virtual pc, but never main host and nothing => 11
Yepppp.
Played around with all of them for a bit. Settled on Bazzite. Dead simple to install and use and it has t given me any issue at all.
Pop OS was kind of nice too, but it needs another year in the oven.
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.
load more comments
(4 replies)
Ah, yes. Decreasing market share in a shrinking market segment? Obviously, the solution is to raise prices!
Microsoft continues to be one of the greatest Linux promoters in the world.
Lmfao, here comes manufactures selling their own versions of Debian and Fedora. I bet we're going to see a rish of manufactueres selling blank no OS PC's with hardware being the only added on cost.
This is the way of the world right now.
"Oh no, things are going bad for us, raise prices so we will be OK when this dies!"
Screw the future. Sad times.
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?
load more comments
(4 replies)
Look. It's simple. You're paying for Copilot, whatever you want to or not.
That LLM response from the search bar when you were just searching for a file? That's not free, we have to pay for that! If you didn't want it you shouldn't have accidentally triggered it by needing to search for a file. That's on you.
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.
I didn't expect my PC to become a better investment than my house - until the bubble pops.
Now I also know the feeling of buying something when it was more affordable. I can now dish out advice like "You should just buy fewer boba teas, so you could afford a PC like I did when buying it with my student loan."
Every RAM stick I bought in the past 15 years is worth more per GB now than when I bought it... If you bought RAM in 2008 the same is true, I just didn't buy RAM at that point.
How much ram comes with windows?
All of the AI Copilot ram.
I would love if pc manufacturers would just ship laptops with e.g. Linux mint or fedora and just knock off the windows licence cost. I don't even mind if they have to ship it with bloatware, that's fine, as long as it just doesn't ship windows. Savvy users will just uninstall it
It's possible to get refunds for unused OEM Windows licenses in the EU.
load more comments
(4 replies)
load more comments
(2 replies)
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...
load more comments
(3 replies)
view more: next ›
this post was submitted on 10 Aug 2026
531 points (100.0% liked)
Technology
87261 readers
2472 users here now
This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.
Our Rules
- Follow the lemmy.world rules.
- Only tech related news or articles.
- Be excellent to each other!
- Mod approved content bots can post up to 10 articles per day.
- Threads asking for personal tech support may be deleted.
- Politics threads may be removed.
- No memes allowed as posts, OK to post as comments.
- Only approved bots from the list below, this includes using AI responses and summaries. To ask if your bot can be added please contact a mod.
- Check for duplicates before posting, duplicates may be removed
- Accounts 7 days and younger will have their posts automatically removed.
Approved Bots
founded 3 years ago
MODERATORS