Unless something has changed drastically in this space, Dell isn't going anywhere near $200 plus the cost of a Windows license on every machine they sell.
I'm guessing they have higher return rates and higher support calls from people selecting the Linux option who don't fully understand what they're doing. If the Linux option reduced the price, there would be scores of people clicking it just to save a few bucks without understanding the consequences.
You have to keep in mind that technically competent people ordering laptops are actually a minority.
I'm sure they might have done a bunch of testing and tweaking to ensure compatibility upon first boot as well.
Though from my standpoint I'd rather know of a distro's quirks with a particular computer than be surprised when I decide to use something different down the line.
Nowadays there's also the automated data-collection, remote telemetry and troubleshooting, "know your customer", etc.
That said, the remote lenovo stuff is a whole different level
If you're not spending a huge amount on laptops, though, I can't imagine this being an option they want to offer.
Do they actually show ads?
Most of the time, it's software that goads you into a subscription after your 30-day trial, like anti-virus packages or HP's ink subscription.
you might want to correct "crypto" with "cryptocurrency", at least
Possibly crypto, definitely a lot of AV software.
That argument doesn't lead where you want it to go. It's the antivirus companies that are rubbish.
Crypto is a cancer even when users voluntarily participate, but that's a separate discussion. It's incredibly inefficient and I distrust anyone downplaying the severity of fragmented commerce networks that individually use more energy than entire countries with millions of fungible flesh and blood humans.
Yes, on the bastion of healthy software that is...third party antivirus(!?)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superfish#Lenovo_security_inci...
For a "just works out of the box" experience, this is why I never went back to Windows after switching to Mac. I did actually wipe a Windows pre-install once to install Ubuntu, but that took forever to setup and fix drivers regularly.
https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/DSC00... https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22894952/t...
After all, people believe they need antivirus software to stay safe (the fact antivirus software can be worse than the virus doesn’t change people beliefs) so why not buy the one that’s already installed on their PC?
Or another way of looking at it, Google pays Apple billions each year to make Google the default search engine on iOS, because Google recognises the power of defaults i.e. people are lazy and will use/buy whatever’s in front of them to avoid doing any work looking for alternatives.
I cannot imagine anyone non-technical having to go through that and deal with BS like daily pop-ups "reminding" you to renew your subscription because "your PC is not protected" and so on.
It's honestly asinine, but hey, just buy a Mac or a Linux Dell I guess.
If I were to do that today, I'd do the same thing.