Hi TC, re:(Except for saving maybe a hundred bucks or so by waiting for the pre-installed version, what's the attraction of having it pre-loaded? Just about everyone I know with either PCs or Macs or Linux has had to, or wanted to, re-install the OS from CD-ROMs anyway. This is probably why Dell's "pre-installed Linux" product wasn't an attractive niche product: anyone interested in using Linux probably was a) competent to install Linux, and b) wanted the flexibility of choosing Debian over Red Hat, Mandrake over SUSE, etc.)
I think a lot of people would dearly love to avoid the hassle-factor of reloading the OS - I certainly would, even though some people might even consider me somewhat technical. I get no pleasure out of tinkering with my PC, and that's what OS-reloading is. I would just as soon wait until the OS is preloaded, done deal - no upgrading after the fact, no "coupon" for XP when it comes out, etc.
As to your Linux friends, absolutely right - they'll do it themselves anyway. But I think there's little correlation between Linux-fan behavior and the rest of the market.
~dbf
PS/OT: do you still post on "security/crypto" issues? where? |
