"Most users wouldn't actually notice they had linux installed - especially a linux like Ubuntu."
I disagree. Harry Homeowner mentioned above might not notice until he tries to install Microsoft Flight Simulator 2007, at which point he would be on the phone to Dell asking for help. It is possible that Dell might be able to talk him through the procedure for emulating Windows XP with Ubuntu, installing MS Flight Simulator in this virtual Windows, getting everything to work etc, but it seems more likely to me that Harry Homeowner will be upset and demand a new machine. At this point you are thinking "what a stupid fool this Harry Homeowner chap is", and with that attitude I wish you luck and bid you goodbye.
I installed the previous version of Ubuntu on some spare hardware I had. It was a mixed bunch of components, but Ubuntu spotted them all, and worked, and I was very impressed. The problem was that it didn't pick up my broadband modem, a Speedtouch model. If this had been my only machine I would have been stuck forevermore. Thankfully I had Windows '98 on my main computer, and I found that the procedure for getting a Speedtouch modem to work with Ubuntu involves extracting the firmware from the modem and then copying several lines of a configuration file into the Ubuntu shell, mutatis mutandis. I did this, and now I have a machine that can surf the internet and do wordprocessing, backed with a community made up of A Certain Kind of Person. I had enough free time and an iron will with which to fix this problem. Harry Homeowner might have had things to do such as cooking, shopping, life etc. What a fool this Harry Homeowner is, for not devoting a couple of hours a day learning how to maintain and use Linux.
Which self-respecting Linux fan is going to want a machine with a Dell sticker on the side? What kind of kudos will that bring? None at all. These Dell Linux fans are going to find themselves despised and scorned by Windows fans and Linux fans alike. They will be lashed from both sides.
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Harry Horseliver
"Most users wouldn't actually notice they had linux installed - especially a linux like Ubuntu."
I disagree. Harry Homeowner mentioned above might not notice until he tries to install Microsoft Flight Simulator 2007, at which point he would be on the phone to Dell asking for help. It is possible that Dell might be able to talk him through the procedure for emulating Windows XP with Ubuntu, installing MS Flight Simulator in this virtual Windows, getting everything to work etc, but it seems more likely to me that Harry Homeowner will be upset and demand a new machine. At this point you are thinking "what a stupid fool this Harry Homeowner chap is", and with that attitude I wish you luck and bid you goodbye.
I installed the previous version of Ubuntu on some spare hardware I had. It was a mixed bunch of components, but Ubuntu spotted them all, and worked, and I was very impressed. The problem was that it didn't pick up my broadband modem, a Speedtouch model. If this had been my only machine I would have been stuck forevermore. Thankfully I had Windows '98 on my main computer, and I found that the procedure for getting a Speedtouch modem to work with Ubuntu involves extracting the firmware from the modem and then copying several lines of a configuration file into the Ubuntu shell, mutatis mutandis. I did this, and now I have a machine that can surf the internet and do wordprocessing, backed with a community made up of A Certain Kind of Person. I had enough free time and an iron will with which to fix this problem. Harry Homeowner might have had things to do such as cooking, shopping, life etc. What a fool this Harry Homeowner is, for not devoting a couple of hours a day learning how to maintain and use Linux.
Which self-respecting Linux fan is going to want a machine with a Dell sticker on the side? What kind of kudos will that bring? None at all. These Dell Linux fans are going to find themselves despised and scorned by Windows fans and Linux fans alike. They will be lashed from both sides.