Wow. $211 is a steep discount. People are going to buy with Linux just to save money, some will try it (because it is there), and some may like it and stay.
At the very least, people may learn that Windows is no easier to install (or even harder).
Windows is no easier to install (or even harder).
I’ve installed both recent windows and common distros many times by hand (where unattended wasn’t trivial) and found everything except latest windows 11 quite similar (including arch) and very easy. Current windows 11 afaik needs registry hacks but I’ve not installed one yet.
200 off is incredible
Aint no way people pay 211$ for that adware, spyware piece of shit operating system. Thats wild.
When https://massgrave.dev/ exists it’s even worse.
I think this tax on tech illiterate people is getting too high.
Should I start selling USB drives for $5? I don’t wanna encourage Windows. But I feel bad for the normies. $211 is insane.
MS literally allows massgrav on GitHub. They have for years. They do not give a fuck.
Paying for windows at this point is a normie tax. And it’s gotten too damn high!
When I was getting my PC they tried to upsell me for a 250€ windows license even if I insisted I didn’t need one x3
Some time ago i checked some polish stores to compare W11 vs Linux / no OS prices and i found out that the difference isn’t flat and it’s actually about ~10% of product price (so the more expensive the notebook is - the higher the price of W11 is)
That’s absolutely fucked.
It’s even more wild because a few years ago, buying the OS on its own was half that price.
“By Grabthar’s hammer… what a savings”
He fit so much disgust and defeat into the delivery of that line. Absolute perfection.
I hope more OEMs start showing the price like this during configuration. People would probably think A LOT harder about using Windows if they were offered a $200 discount for trying something else…
Wait, I had to do a double take. I thought they were charging $200 extra for Fedora and Ubuntu. They could consider sending some money to those distros for development which would still be cheaper than buying windows.
It’s 60€ in my region.
The German store doesn’t offer Fedora, but also gives 60 Euro off if you order no OS. I tried X1 Gen 10 and 13.
And you save money? Oh man, the path of least resistance just changed.
I don’t know if it’s not scrolled enough but here we have another option which is “no os at all” and you save another 30€
Shit like this gives me hope for the future
They always refused to reimburse the cost of Windows licences before this even if it was illegal in the country you lived in. I’m very surprised.
The market is shifting…
For at least half a decade I’ve been seeing computers - both brand-name laptops as well as custom built desktops - sold with FreeDOS as default, and you have to pay extra for Windows.
The most important part is that you wouldn’t get a pc with an instant desktop experience that would just let you just boot up and go to Facebook or whatever, so it had little chance of actually harming Microsoft.
This may actually change things!
I paid about $100 less to have my workstation shipped with Ubuntu instead of Windows 10 Pro 3 years ago. United States.
This may help them absorb the tarrifs by advertising it at current rates while raising the price by 200 bucks.
Let’s see who considers the Linux options when they see they can get the same machine for 200 bucks cheaper. I hope other brands start considering doing this too.
I love it.
Though some people will certainly take it wrong. The “iPhone is more expensive because it’s better” people will happily pay their Windows tax, assuming they’re even in the market for a Lenovo.
Not only that. The software is so much better.
It’s more probable people buying cheaper and then installing Windows afterwards - a lot more probable than starting their tech life from scratch.
People who are tech savy maybe. Most consumers have no clue how to install windows (or any OS) with an iso though.
But they have friends, neighbors, nephews that do know. 😉
Then they could just not have an is preinstalled. No need for Linux first unless you don’t already have a device to create the ISO with. (Which is something I’d expect most people to have access to if they know how to install windows)
I really do believe that this is marketed towards people who want to use Linux.
I believe so as well. It’s a worthy initiative in my opinion.
Yep, get ISO from Microsoft’s website (don’t even need to sail for that part) then activate it using a super easy to find tool…
Iex(iwr get.activated.win)
Sure, and they’ll be pirating it, a net benefit if it reduces Microsoft’s monopoly.
starting their tech life from scratch
Lol that’s an exaggeration
I once installed Linux on my machine and my physical keyboard magically transformed into a Dvorak keyboard and the mouse vanished, replaced by a note saying “Terminal is more ergonomic”.
Made the setting up ritual way harder than it should have been :(
You’re really saying that they’d buy a laptop for cheap and install a new OS and aquire a key and all that? While I have your attention, are you interested in this bridge I have to sell you?
Suggesting that the average end user is more likely to reinstall an OS and aquire a key than to just learn how to use the new OS is fucking laughable.
I think most people would just use Windows without activating it
I’ve seen that on so many PCs when someone would call me that something doesn’t work on their PC. People aren’t bothered by it as one would think. 😄
free Windows activation is just one powershell command away
For you and me yes… 😄
Your POV is laughable. 😄
Don’t you know that everybody has that one friend, nephew, neighbor, colleague etc. that they ask for advice when buying a new laptop?
I am one of those friends, nephews, neighbors that helps out in such situations. I don’t sit on my high Linux cloud smartassing average people to throw away that little bit of tech literacy they’ve gathered over the years while using Win and Win related software for a Linux learning experience they don’t want.
I help them out to save money and still get what they need.
As for people that don’t have such a person, they won’t be saving money to get an OS they’ve never heard of. They’ll get the option with Win installed. If anyone thinks differently, obviously has no contact with regular people outside of tech. 😄
“Do a favor to somebody and it becomes your job”.
Welcome to a lifetime of free tech support.
People find ways to make it up to you. My circle of friends and relatives, everyone has a different skill set and we help out each other. As for the freeloaders, we got rid of them long ago.
Your POV is laughable. 😄
Right back at ya champ 😎
Don’t you know that everybody has that one friend, nephew, neighbor, colleague etc. that they ask for advice when buying a new laptop?
I was that guy and did front line tech support for a few years, and still do when I have to.
Plenty don’t, or can only rely on their work IT guy who may or may not be able to help them. Assuming they have an IT guy and haven’t farmed the work out to an MSP who doesn’t always have the time to help.
Just because your limited life experience says it doesn’t happen, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen.
I thought they’d done this for years (on certain Thinkpads anyway)? Still I’d rather install my own than trust Lenovo to install it for me.
Yes they have. They are a bit inconsistent on what’s available, sometimes no linux version at all. The x1 gen 13 doesn’t offer it last I checked.
They will pay you to take it!
Shipping it with Linux is the easiest way to convince a consumer that it does run Linux. :)
Awesome, I wish more computer manufacturers did this and actually gave you the ability to choose the OS to ship your PC with, especially with how much cheaper it is to not include Windows with activation. Wow.
Exactly. I currently have a notebook which is very well made. But it still sucks that I had to pay the windows license which is of no use : (
One category “no OS”, with also at least 211€ off, would be great. Don’t need nothing on my device when I install Arch from scratch anyway. Or nc -lp 42069 > /dev/main/root and cat /dev/sda3 | nc 192.168.178.x -p 42069, recreate /dev/main/swap and reinstall /dev/main/boot. Or just nc -lp 42069 > /dev/nvme0n1 and cat /dev/nvme0n1 | nf 192.168.178.x -p 42069
As available in France, tho only for €60 less.
And you pay €30 for fedora (?)probably for the labour it takes to do the OEM install and verify that everything is up to date and works… like audio and multi-monitor.
Where?
Woah! Never seen this in France, ever. You can even get it os-free!
The difference in pricing is concerning tho.
Wait, “operating system” in French is “système d’exploitation”? That’s particularly funny next to Windows 11 offers.
“Système d’exploitation” feels like an apt description of Windows 11 😆
How much for a society without an exploitation system?
Priceless, but out of stock.
It’s -$140 in my area. Additionally, the 2 other models I picked first didn’t have that option at all.
I wish other choices in life were this easy.
$200???
$200 less (you save money not buying windows)
Which makes the win11 pro license $297? That’s obscene.
Windows licenses ain’t cheap. Never have been.
I see 11 Pro straight from MS for $200, why the fuck are they charging almost $300 for it? lmao
edit- someone pointed out it’s CAD
the same reason they charge 30 for Linux
you can get them for like 20$, probably even cheaper but i paid about 20 not 6 months ago for w11
This should be standard in stores. If people could save that much, they wouldn’t choose Windows haha
Which is why it’s never going to happen. Old people like me will remember the first EEE PC from Asus, the original netbook. Netbooks were small cheap laptops that were popular before smartphones were around. It ran Linux and it worked pretty well. Then Microsoft came out with a special version of Windows XP which could run on netbooks and they gave it away for free, just to prevent Linux from getting popular on consumer devices. So they’re going to pull something like that again. And Lenovo know this, of course. This is likely just a negotiating tactic to get concessions from MS on licensing fees.
Think you hit the nail on the head. God I hate how capitalism was applied during the induction of computers and the Internet. It ruined so much trying to force “scarcity” driven supply/demand on a technology that fundamentally removed the supply problem. At least in terms of software.
Software never should have been allowed to be restricted by past limitations only to ensure profits could be made.
But we force it on it. Only for the benefits of companies that serve to prevent innovation more than they produce it.
