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Technology Stocks : MSFT Internet Explorer vs. NSCP Navigator
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To: Justin Banks who wrote (17091)2/5/1998 4:15:00 PM
From: Alan Buckley  Read Replies (3) of 24154
 
[But, you can't buy a CPQ, DELL, or Gateway machine without the OS pre-loaded. That's the problem.]

Is it? It's my understanding that MSFT agreed to discontinue the practice of charging based on systems shipped (rather than OS copies loaded) in the consent decree years ago. Michael Dell was quoted at the time saying he'd sell OS/2 if enough customers asked for it to make it worth his while.

I'm not surprised the computer makers would be reluctant to sell systems without an OS anyway. They likely have diagnostic and test software that runs on Windows, in which case it would be a royal pain to load Windows to verify the system works, then remove it for sale (at less money). From their point of view it makes more sense to just say it's not an option. Few people want no OS anyway, and of those, even fewer would be willing to go buy from some tiny operator just to avoid getting one.
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