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Honest question: Are there really any good such OEMs? Usually the ones with the "Linux" or "FreeDOS" option tend to be hard to find at Dell's site for example, and have inferior hardware, or not the brand I'm looking for (ie. AMD instead of Intel CPUs, ATI or Intel instead of nVidia GPUs). They also tend to lack the component customization that the Windows systems have. Only by getting Windows are the higher-performance machines and extra hardware customization opened up. And I actually don't know about any companies that sell good machines with no OS; every OEM puts Windows above all, and makes other options hard to find (even to the point of recommending *against* them when you finally do find it, just goes to show how much these companies REALLY want you to buy Windows...).
It is a nightmare trying to find a decent PC not running Windows by default with the components I want. Yet you claim they are not hard to find. Do you know something I don't?
Hell, just look how resistant Dell was to putting Ubuntu on their machines in the first place. I'm shocked they provided it as an option on even one model, and the other companies seem just as cautious.
Edited 2011-01-06 05:03 UTC
I haven't bought a machine from one of the major manufacturers in quite a while so I can't comment too much on how they do things. That said, if you want to purchase, say, a Dell without Windows in the UK you can do so by getting a quote from a Dell representative on their LiveChat system. In addition, when we buy new machines at work we always have the option of purchasing without an OS pre-installed.
Personally, I tend to go to places such as overclockers.co.uk whenever I want a new system and they give customers the option of buying without any OS; there are many, many other places like this, including loads in the US.
There are some OEMs that cater specifically to the OSS/Linux crowd. system76 comes to mind. There systems only come with Ubuntu installed. They are what your are looking for. I have no idea as to the quality of their machines or their support but it proves that there are OEMs that cater to Linux out there.
Member since:
2010-10-27
Why does "don't buy a computer with Windows pre-installed" sound like "buy a Mac" to you? It doesn't to me.
If you want to buy a PC without an operating system there are plenty of places you can do so.