Written June 2007
by Cliff Feldwick
And if Dell retreats, can others be far behind? Actually, HP – who has taken the lead in combined PC sales - is there already. What are they retreating from? Vista, that’s what. The latest, greatest, up-to-datest steaming pile of code from our boys at Microsoft. No doubt driven by tales of incompatibility with tons of application software and the fact that it didn’t work with at least half of the add-on hardware available, customers had adopted the attitude – which I highly endorse – of “lets wait until they get the bugs out”. Nothing like the collective intake of breath sucking the life out of their sales to make the manufacturers stand up and take notice. Dell, who had pulled all traces of XP from their website the day that Vista was officially released, now has the options of “customize with XP” or “customize with Vista” available when configuring a PC. Could you guess my choice from the paragraph above?
Both manufacturers, interestingly enough, also offer desktop systems shipped with FreeDOS, an open-source DOS-compatible operating system. Oh look, it’s a C: prompt! Talk about a throwback. Let’s put on an eight-track and play Twister! OK, so it’s really not that bad – by offering a legal alternative to Windows, their systems can be sold “bare”, ready for you to install Linux or any other operating system of your choice without the herds of attorneys up in Redmond saying they were somehow promoting people “sharing” copies of Windows. Academic copies of Windows and upgrades available to non-profits and schools at dirt-cheap prices could also be used. All you need is the time and in-house expertise to install the hardware drivers, something that many non-profits get from their volunteers anyway.
Microsoft will now allow manufacturers to pre-load XP until January 2008, at which point you will be forced to “choose” Vista. Whoopee.
No Secret
It’s a well-known secret for those of us who build PC’s that older versions of operating systems, fully licensed and genuine, were available after the newer versions came out, often for some time. So it’s always been a spectacle to watch as the big boys hew faithfully to the party line and convert immediately, with no options for the average small business or consumer to choose. If you had a large-company open end contract with Dell, of course, older versions were always available.
In the appropriate stiff-upper-lip response, a Microsoft product manager spun “Dell is responding appropriately to a small minority of customers that had this specific request," Yeah, like anyone who had read a review? After all, many of the “improved” features of Vista, such as the neato-keano Aero interface, are not in the Home Basic (read cheap) version and required at least 1 gigabyte of memory to work. The proper minimum memory is 2 gigabytes, which will cost you an additional $190 at Dell, and the upgrade to Vista Business is another $99. So much for the $319 advertised system.
So sometimes consumer demand actually works.
A Feisty Fawn
Feisty Fawn may be one name you use for the animal that enjoys your landscaping and vegetables, but it means something else to software people – it’s a variation of the free operating system Linux. Like Red Hat and other better known brands, they offer a free download but will happily charge for disks and technical support (they’re really not in this for their health). So why do you care? Because Dell is offering Feisty Fawn by Ubuntu, a European company, as an alternative to Windows. It started as a teaser – part of the Dell site that highlights “computers that we own” showed an expensive laptop for Michael Dell loaded with Feisty Fawn. Sort of like the dealer that speaks of “this is the car I drive”, it can be a subtle selling tool. Next, Dell put out a press release talking of Linux as an option – except that you can already get it. You just have to know where to look (hint: type Linux in the “keyword” box at the top of their home page). This significantly lowers the cost of a moderate system.
Again, why do you care? Isn’t Linux just for techno-wienies and server geeks? No, it doesn’t have to be. The Feisty Fawn version is really easy to install and comes complete with Open Office, which has a word processor that reads and saves in Word format so you can trade files with anyone, and Firefox, my preferred web browser. For the 90% of the world that just wants to do a little word processing and go to the web, this is great. And it’s free. You can use free e-mail services like Yahoo mail or g-mail (or even AOL now) and you’re good to go.
Will this bring Microsoft down to their knees? Dream on. But it will allow lower-cost systems to become more available, and let a few people thumb their nose at the giant. Well worth it.
Cliff Feldwick is president of Riverside Computer Consultants and works with small businesses on troubleshooting, updates and small networks. He occasionally uses his thumb (and frequently other digits) when discussing this favorite Deathstar vendor. He can be reached at 410-880-0171 or at cliff@feldwick.com.