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Comment by golergka | Hacker News Reader

Don't most of consumer Linux laptops just get pirated windows installed on them?

No. Often (not always, but surprisingly often) Linux laptops work out more expensive than Windows ones due to Windows subsidies and greater economics of scale.

So you'll see people buying Windows laptops to run Linux far more often than you'll see Linux laptops bought to run Windows (pirated or otherwise).

I thought a Linux laptop/computer was the same thing as a Windows version, just without the Windows tax. I have not looked at these offerings in years, so has the Linux offerings from the big vendors matured enough that they are different than the Windows versions?

I believe the idea is that Windows laptop makers make more money from preinstalled bloatware (McAfee, Candy Crush, etc.) than the cost of the OEM Windows license. So if they ship the laptop with Linux which doesn't support the bloatware then they don't make as much money as compared to the Windows version at the same price.

Not just this, though this is a big factor. Often there will be hardware differences too. For example a Linux laptop might run more expensive hardware simply because it has better support with open source drivers (thus satisfies Debian et al users). Whereas a fair number of Linux users are more than happy to run closed proprietary binaries instead. So often Linux certified laptops will be different hardware to their Windows counterparts rather than just Windows machines shipped without an OS.

Then you also have the economics of scale where building a laptop for 1k customers would work out more expensive (price per laptop) than building the same laptop for 100k customers.

There's a free version of windows 10. The only difference from paid version is that you can't change the wallpaper.

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