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On Mon, Mar 22, 2010 at 11:36:59PM +0200, Alan McKinnon wrote: |
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> On Monday 22 March 2010 21:21:26 KH wrote: |
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> > Am 22.03.2010 20:17, schrieb Mick: |
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> > > TBH, I wouldn't pay money for it but as many OEM impose a MSWindows tax |
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> > > on all of us I had no other option if I wanted to buy this particular |
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> > > laptop. |
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> > |
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> > You can refuse the license agreement and give windows back. If you are |
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> > lucky, the vendor will give you some money back. |
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> > |
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> > kh |
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> |
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> |
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> Yeah right, good luck with that. |
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> |
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> Three people in my entire country are known to have gotten that right, 2 from |
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> Toshiba. In all three cases, the hardware vendor refunded the cost as a PR |
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> exercise. |
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> |
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> Microsoft are dead sneaky about this one, at least under ZA law. The hardware |
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> vendor accepted the license to install it (remember it's on OEM install not a |
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> box set), and you buy the hardware knowing full well that it comes with |
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> Windows. That's part of the deal and there is no deal on the table where the |
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> machine does not have Windows. |
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> |
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> There is nothing unfair about this. No vendor has a *duty* so sell you what |
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> you want and they cannot be forced to. Microsoft does not enforce that vendors |
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> sell Windows-only machines (and they proved as such to the relevant |
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> Commission). Vendors almost uniformly virtually every model with Windows, the |
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> exceptions are low grade machines the no sane person would buy today, and |
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> servers). This is not even anti-competitive, the vendor can sell what they |
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> like and can offer only a certain OS of they choose. Much like a Toyota dealer |
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> is perfectly free to sell only Toyotas and cannot be forced to offer Hondas as |
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> well. |
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> |
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> |
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> -- |
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> alan dot mckinnon at gmail dot com |
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> |
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Well you I'll have to agree with you that it's not unfiar or anything else as such. |
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I do however think that it would be benefitial to the consumer if the market was more open than it's current state. |
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That being said we do have the option to buy costumized computers without the MS tax. |
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-- |
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Zeerak Waseem |
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