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Lenovo Requires NDA For Windows License Refund
Posted by
timothy
on Thu Aug 28, 2008 02:36 PM
from the deserves-a-raise dept.
from the deserves-a-raise dept.
tykev writes "A customer wanted to return the license for preinstalled Windows Vista Business that came with his Lenovo laptop. After some lengthy negotiations with representatives of Lenovo's technical support and management, he was offered financial compensation for returning the license in the amount of CZK 1950 (USD 130, EUR 78), pending his acceptance of a non-disclosure agreement that would cover the entire negotiations with the company and its results. He declined and published his experiences on a Czech Linux website. The website editors decided to reward the customer for publishing the article by paying him an author's royalty in the same amount as was the offered compensation for returning the license."
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Hardware: Lenovo Removes Linux Option For Home Buyers 380 comments
billybob2 writes "Lenovo has stopped selling laptops pre-installed with Linux on its web site, only 8 months after starting the trial program. This means that home customers won't be able to buy a Thinkpad without paying the Microsoft tax. Word has it that the decision to pull the plug on Linux came down from the highest levels of the Chinese company's corporate headquarters. For those looking to buy full-sized laptops and desktops with Linux pre-loaded Dell, System76, ZaReason and Everex all still offer such products."
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Vista is pants (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Vista is pants (Score:5, Funny)
no it's not
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Re:Vista is pants (Score:5, Funny)
Linux is better
(This post is a violation of your bank's terms of service. Please choose another post instead.)
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I read that as "DNA"... (Score:5, Funny)
Right so now we know the minimum (Score:5, Interesting)
So now we know the minimum we should accept. Time to start negotiating upwards to see what other numbers can be achieved.
That is probably the most effective way to start companies shipping hardware only or Linux pre-installed as the negotiation process will cost money. If 1,000 people went through this process with Lenovo (or Dell, or HP, etc) then we would probably see more progress than 5 years of bitching has managed to achieve.
Kudos to the guy
Right Now, In the U.S. Vista Cost You $349 (Score:5, Informative)
Before anyone goes blathering on about "ufair" this and "innacurate" that, follow my test.
1. Visit Dell.com on two different browser tabs.
2. Tab #1 starts here.http://www.dell.com/content/topics/segtopic.aspx/linux_3x?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs
3. Tab #2 starts here. http://www.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/xpsnb_m1330?c=us&l=en&s=dhs&cs=19 [dell.com]
4. Configure the Vista product with the ultimate version. That is roughly feature equivalent to Ubuntu.
5. Pay attention to the hardware options because the Linux product has fewer and generally more storage/RAM.
6. At the end, you should have a spread of about $349.
So, Vista costs the consumer $349 OEM through the consumer URL.
Parent
Re:Right Now, In the U.S. Vista Cost You $349 (Score:5, Insightful)
4. Configure the Vista product with the ultimate version. That is roughly feature equivalent to Ubuntu.
The point isn't to determine how much Windows Ultimate costs ($349 is probably about right), nor is it to perform a feature comparison of Windows vs. Ubuntu. The point is to determine how much the lowest 'Windows tax' is. From what we've seen, standard Windows should get you back about $130. That seems a bit high, as the OEM costs for Windows that I've heard are quite a bit lower. I wonder why they'd offer that high.
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Re:Right so now we know the minimum (Score:5, Interesting)
Or they'd publish a fixed price which means you could cost it out. Which after all is what we all want isn't it?
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Re:Right so now we know the minimum (Score:5, Insightful)
Really? I think most people would want their $130 USD back if they knew they qualified for it. It's not a lot of money, but it's not a trifle, either.
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Consise and entertaining (Score:5, Funny)
Sleny operátorky na lince Lenovo byly velice milé. Po vyslechnutí mého poadavku m chtly odmítnout, ale poté, co jsem odcitoval píslunou ást licence, si vyádaly pár dní na zjitní aktuálního stavu od vedení firmy. Tím jsem se viditeln dostal o úrove vý, nebo nyní následovalo kolo telefonních rozhovor.
I dont know what it means but I like it. I think.
Re:Consise and entertaining (Score:5, Funny)
Hmm.. "Sleny operators on the line Lenovo was very beautiful. After hearing my requirement m chtly refused, but after I odcitoval píslunou part of the licence, the vyádaly few days to zjitní current state of company management. Thus I got the viditeln level amount, or now, followed by round of telephone interview."
Still don't know what it means, but I agree with you.
Parent
Re:Consise and entertaining (Score:5, Informative)
"The operator girls on the Lenovo phone line were very nice. After hearing my request they wanted to reject, but after I cited them the respective part of the licence, they asked for few days to find out the current state from the company management. Obviously I got with that one level higher, as next round of phone talks started"
Parent
Requiring NDA is changing the rules of the game. (Score:5, Insightful)
There go Lenovo's chances on my next laptop purchase.
Stupid Lenovo... (Score:5, Insightful)
The only english story on the site (Score:5, Interesting)
I wonder why on a Czech web portal, that one news article was in English. I did a little looking around trying to see if I could find any other pages in English but that was the only one. It was also the only one that had a /. submit script on it. Even the Czech version [abclinuxu.cz] of the story did not have the script.
Big deal (Score:5, Insightful)
Meanwhile, Microsoft still got paid for a product that was completely unwanted and unused. This is a great example of the Microsoft Tax in action. Even when their new operating system is a disaster and people refuse to use it, they still get paid, purely on the basis of their market position. This is the kind of reason why Microsoft should be subject to antitrust laws. Normal market forces just don't apply to them.
Re:Big deal (Score:5, Insightful)
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Re:He's from the Czech (Score:5, Funny)
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Re:He's from the Czech (Score:5, Funny)
Yeah I think it's NATO good idea. Ukraine never know where it will stop.
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Re:He's from the Czech (Score:5, Funny)
I defy anyone to continue this using Uzbekistan or Tajikistan.
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Re:He's from the Czech (Score:5, Funny)
Yeah, it's dead.
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Re:He's from the Czech (Score:5, Funny)
It's a Spain to keep reading this thread. Perhaps you could Sweden the jokes a bit?
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Re:He's from the Czech (Score:5, Funny)
Mmm, sweet things make me Hungary.
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Re:He's from the Czech (Score:5, Funny)
Parent
Re:The real question: (Score:5, Insightful)
The reason for an NDA is actually fairly obvious. Lenovo's probably eating the cost of the license in this case, and the last thing that it wants is for Czechoslovakians to realize that they can get 78 Euro off of the price of a laptop simply by asking.
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