French court says non to pre-loaded Windows on Acer laptop

Could this mean cheaper PCs and Laptops?

[BeeDeeDubbleU]

A court in France has awarded a man 311.85 euros as the cost of the pre-loaded software on his new Acer laptop. His case was that he didn't want the software but that he had no choice but to buy it.

Could have implications?

[channelregister.co.uk...]

(312 euros = £220 = $440)

[edited by: BeeDeeDubbleU at 7:42 am (utc) on Sep. 27, 2007]

[lawman]

I guess what my dad used to say is true:

"I'd rather die owing you than beat you out of it." ;)

[hutcheson]

>Hence, it's YOUR responsibility to find out if your OUTDATED software and hardware works with Windows Vista.

Anyone who wants non-outdated software will have OS X, BSD, or Linux. MS products are outdated by design, from the beginning. The sole purpose of a Vista release is to get people to pay money for software that doesn't do anything except set them up to pay money for more software in 2 years.

Linux will run whatever you buy, from cell phones to grid supercomputers, for the next ten years.

[Josefu]

Many in this thread, either for or against Microsoft products, are making selective arguments "supporting" the product of their choice (or condemning criticisms to the same) without really looking at the big picture.

Pre-bundled software. One cannot ignore that, at the beginning of the "home computer" age, Microsoft was the first to sell their software directly to computer manufacturers, and fast enough to be also the first to "train" almost an entire market and an entire generation of first-time computer users. The trend was set from then.

One comment talked about "what is good for the consumer" - but the uninformed consumer doesn't know what's best for him, and pre-bundled softwarer doesn't even consider what the consumer wants - this practice began when there was practically no other choice for the consumer, but the situation is hardly the same now - today it has more to do with the existing market (percentage of people using Windows) than what the consumer considers "good". The Vista example was a good one - if the consumer doesn't like it, he will erase his drive or retrograde to XP.

I think the best option would be for a manufacturer to provide the consumer with a choice of which OS comes with the computer (if any). If he has this choice, I'm sure he will take the time to inform himself about the best products out there for him. For the time being, there are other options out there, but the consumer today is faced with a computer market at least 90% dominated by computers sporting pre-installed windows.

[zafile]

"Anyone who wants non-outdated software will have OS X, BSD, or Linux. MS products are outdated by design, from the beginning. The sole purpose of a Vista release is to get people to pay money for software that doesn't do anything except set them up to pay money for more software in 2 years."

Perhaps it's necessary to remember Lars Wirzenius' comments made in August of 1996:

"Make sure they're facts, though, not just something you heard about. Don't spread lies or rumors. Check your facts. If you don't know how to do that, then perhaps you shouldn't take part in the discussion, except perhaps by making questions." [1]

1 [liw.iki.fi...]

Other key sources on Wirzenius remarks from 1996:

[groups.google.com...]

[groups.google.com...]

[groups.google.com...]

[zafile]

"MS products are outdated by design, from the beginning."

I recently purchased the Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 4.0 operating system to perform some tests on a Gateway G6-233 computer. The machine is equipped with a Pentium II 233 MHz processor, 128 MB of RAM and a 4 GB hard drive.

This is how I did the installation:

1. Format a 2.1 GB NTFS partition
2. Install Windows NT 4.0 (bios set as non plug and play)
3. Install network and disable the server service
4. Install NT 4.0 Service Pack 3 High Encription (free download)
5. Install desktop themes
6. Install IE 4.01 with desktop update
7. Install video driver
8. Install sound driver
9. Install modem
10. Install NT 4.0 Service Pack 6 High Encription (free download)
11. Install Security Update July 26, 2001 (free download)
12. Install IE 6.0
13. Install Diskeeper Lite (free download)
14. Defragment 2.1 GB NTFS partition
15. Install Sygate Personal Firewall (free download)
16. Windows Update - Download updates
17. Install IE 6.0 SP1
18. Windows Update - Download updates
19. Install anti-virus (free download)

I have Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 4.0 running perfectly except for some very minor issues caused by the Sygate Personal Firewall.

While Microsoft stopped providing support for NT 4.0 in July of 2004, the operating system was capable of running for 8 years with NO additional expenses on Microsoft software. Microsoft originally released NT 4.0 Workstation on July of 1996.

It's important to notice that the above installation requires some technical knowledge. Consequently, the average user could have spent some money on technical support to accomplishing the same task.

[zafile]

As additional information, when I checked properties of the hard drive that contains the previously described installation, the screen's General tab read "Used space: 577,213,440 bytes 550MB"

I wonder if I can accomplish something similar using Red Hat Linux/Intel 4.2 (Bilmore)?

When did Red Hat end support for Linux/Intel 4.2 (Bilmore)?

Did Red Hat Linux/Intel 4.2 (Bilmore) beat Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 4.0 in terms of support?

Precedents are important to discern the validity of claims such as "Linux will run whatever you buy, from cell phones to grid supercomputers, for the next ten years."

I do have a copy of Red Hat Linux/Intel 4.2 (Bilmore). I haven't tested it yet...