<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 TRANSITIONAL//EN"> <HTML> <HEAD> <META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; CHARSET=UTF-8"> <META NAME="GENERATOR" CONTENT="GtkHTML/3.28.1"> </HEAD> <BODY> -----Original Message----- From: David Robert Lewis (ethnopunk) <<A HREF="mailto:%22David%20Robert%20Lewis%20%28ethnopunk%29%22%20%3cethnopunk@telkomsa.net%3e">ethnopunk@telkomsa.net</A>> Reply-to: Ubuntu South African Local Community <ubuntu-za@lists.ubuntu.com> To: Ubuntu South African Local Community <<A HREF="mailto:Ubuntu%20South%20African%20Local%20Community%20%3cubuntu-za@lists.ubuntu.com%3e">ubuntu-za@lists.ubuntu.com</A>> Subject: Re: [ubuntu-za] Are there any problems running Ubuntu on a Intel Quad ? Date: Thu, 11 Feb 2010 12:03:54 +0200 <PRE> Helge Reikeras wrote: > On Thu, 11 Feb 2010 11:37:06 +0200, Andre Rossouw <<A HREF="mailto:andre@arnet.co.za">andre@arnet.co.za</A>> > wrote: > > >> On Thu, 2010-02-11 at 10:33 +0200, David Robert Lewis (ethnopunk) wrote: >> >>> Best part about buying a new PC is when the guy asks you. So do you >>> want >>> Windows Vista or Windows 7 and you tell him what you are about to do >>> and >>> he gives you this weird look, like your'e from outer space or >>> something. >>> I also get a lot of pleasure erasing brand new Microsoft >>> installations >>> and then turning on compiz and having people's jaws drop in amazement. >>> >> It is satisfying... I hope that when that new machine is switched on for >> the first time you disagree to the license and get your money back... >> >> > > Can one actually do this? > > >> Letting the stats reflect bloated sales figures for Windows 7 (when >> we've actually just bought the machine and trashed the pre-install) >> isn't cool for me. >> >> >> > > > The Window's Tax. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- </PRE> Unfortunately, retailers are tied into selling the Windows with the PC/notebook. What is also of course tied into having Windows loaded on such machines is the warrantee. What I did, in order to hopefully be able to use the warrantee if necessary, was to take a complete (Windows 7) system image of the notebook before adding/changing anything, and definitely before changing over to Karmic. Fortunately, Acer supplies a nice utility for doing this. If I have a problem that needs warrantee attention, I hope that I will still be able to reload the image. However, while the Windows tax is completely unfair, and if someone had the money & time to challenge it, probably unethical business practice, it is also unfortunately almost inescapable. Apparently, HP & Dell will sell you a system (only online) with Linux instead of Windows, and Sahara (wholesaler) does have some notebooks that ship with Linux instead of Windows - for a cheaper price than with Windows. </BODY> </HTML>