Re: [Hampshire] Microsoft Vista Refund - Information Sought

> You have to wonder why, in this age of DVDs and USB memory cards and
> memory sticks, manufacturers can't ship their wares with MS operating
> systems in a sealed bag on bootable media which you can then send back,
> seal intact for a refund, or install (either yourself or by request at
> the point of purchase).

That's very easy to answer.

Microsoft wants to be seen as the "easy" option - customers want something
that works straight out of the box, with no tricky fiddling around finding
stuff like you have to do with that dreadful Linux thingie.

Trouble is - that ease of use is entirely illusory. Installing Windows
from scratch is a relatively complicated procedure, even when you don't
have any driver wierdness. Add in a bit of non-standard hardware, and life
can be a real pain.

We've become spoilt over the last few years; Linux is now *so* easy to get
running on $generic_hardware that we forget what a pain it can be to
install other OSes. And Microsoft is forever adding new hoops through
which to jump.

So if the end-user had to install an OS to start with, MS market share
would *plummet*. And they can't have that...

Vic.