PCs Should be Shipped Dual OS Boots

[gbrux]

It has been my view that one of the remedies that the federal court in the Microsoft antitrust case should have ordered as a remedy is to require all computer manufacturers to sell and ship pcs with at least two operating systems, if the pc manufacturer ships a pc with a Microsoft operating system.

For example, if Dell offers to sell a pc with Windows 98 preloaded, Dell should also be required to sell it with another operating system in a dual boot setup.

The object of a remedy of this kind is to give purchasers a choice of operating systems. The benefits of course include maintenance of a viable alterative application development community, better Windows based applications,

Hey, it doesn't matter to me that Microsoft might offer this alternate operating system, such as its own version of Linux.

The last time I purchased a off-the-shelf pc was in 1995, after which year I upgraded and built my own systems, so I don't know whether manufacturers will sell pcs with non-Microsoft OSes installed.

I suspect that, if there is a sufficient consumer demand, Dell and the others may sell dual boot systmes.

 

[FOBSIDE]

it would also cost more to do that. i say let people who really care build their own computer and install whatever os they want.

 

[MGMorden]

As much as I love non-MS os's, I can't agree with you. Forcing another OS on a person is not the answer. However, it might be a better solution to require PC manufacture's to offer more selections than just Windows (Windows, Linux, *BSD, BeOS, and QNX would be great choices to have at Dell or Gateway).

 

[FOBSIDE]

dell does come shipped with redhat if you want to have it. the fact is...ms is like aol. people think its the only thing out there. im fine if an ms os is your os of choice but i think people should be aware of whats out there as well.

 

[Dulanic]

MS isnt like AOL..... with AOL you have a choice to go elsewhere.... with MS if you want to beable to play 90% of your games or run most apps you need Windows.

 

[fluxquantum]

yeah..having a system shipped with dual booting would be cool.