828
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[-] AlexanderESmith@kbin.social 15 points 6 months ago

Usually they just over-pay for their computer because you can't really buy a system without Windows pre-installed (unless you build it).

I have so many computers that came with Windows installations that I never even booted into.

[-] EngineerGaming@feddit.nl 3 points 6 months ago

"Can't really buy a computer without Windows pre-installed"? Weird, that's not my experience. The stores allow filtering by "no OS" and you can see quite a lot of options.

[-] SaltySalamander@fedia.io 5 points 6 months ago

Which retail store have you ever walked into that had a PC on display with no OS?

[-] tehbilly@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 6 months ago

I don't know if the people walking into a brick-and-mortar for a prebuilt PC are making decisions beyond "what's available" and "what's in my budget".

[-] AlexanderESmith@kbin.social 2 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

There are absolutely online stores that do that, but they're usually gamer-focused, so there's three issues;

Note: I'm taking about laptops, because it's all I've bought for the last decade or more;

  • The non-gamer focused stores rarely (if ever) have the option (Lenovo, Dell, Microsoft, etc).

  • The gamer focused stores usually sell hardware that runs Linux like shit because the hardware needs extremely specific drivers (which isn't necessarily an issue for Linux, but if it doesn't exist yet, you're either building them yourself, or waiting for someone else to do so).

    • Note: Most Clevo systems - that are private-labeled by the likes if IBuyPower, OriginPC, etc - run Linux really well. Some of these sellers make custom hardware, or sell other private-label systems, so your milage may vary.
  • The gamer focused stores are usually patroned by people who are all in on Windows gaming, because they don't do much else with the system, so they don't experience the kinds of annoyances that power users would gripe about (which is why the above point doesn't compel those sellers to do anything different).

    • And before someone corrects me: Gamers are not inherently power users, they just have powerful systems. It used to be that powerful systems were only buildable and maintenable by power users, but that hasn't been true for years. If all you do is install and click "play", you aren't a power user.

As for desktops, I really couldn't say. Haven't been paying attention for years. It's possible that you could buy a system without a hard drive, never mind an OS.

this post was submitted on 20 Apr 2024
828 points (97.4% liked)

Technology

59137 readers
1617 users here now

This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.


Our Rules


  1. Follow the lemmy.world rules.
  2. Only tech related content.
  3. Be excellent to each another!
  4. Mod approved content bots can post up to 10 articles per day.
  5. Threads asking for personal tech support may be deleted.
  6. Politics threads may be removed.
  7. No memes allowed as posts, OK to post as comments.
  8. Only approved bots from the list below, to ask if your bot can be added please contact us.
  9. Check for duplicates before posting, duplicates may be removed

Approved Bots


founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS