... but it definitely isn't in other areas.

A number of NAS and SAN vendors ship products with features disabled on the OS until you pay a 'licensing fee' to unlock the features. NetApp, Isilon, and EMC/Clariion are just some I can think off the top of my head that do this.

Technically, it isn't quite the same as say, unlocking Windows 7 Ultimate from the Home version, but it's fairly common practice in the enterprise world.

The pseudonym of the blogger in question is actually AKMuckraker, who is the author of The Mudflats blog.

I mean, come on... it's only on the second paragraph of the HuffPo link you posted:

"Mudflats blogger "Alaska Muckraker" (AKM) rose to blogger fame almost instantaneously..."

*sigh*

In his blog lambasting Neftlix, he says:

In the article summary above, he's now saying 48 kbps.

0.48mbps is actually 480kbps, so he's off by a factor of 10, which (while still pretty crappy) makes it sound much worse than it actually is. So which one is it, OP?

It breaks the main page.
C'mon, it's not that hard to resize it before posting.

The original article was about a lady suing because she wanted version X of Windows installed, and the PC maker is bundling version Y, and charging extra to install version X.

What I've been trying to say (which you either missed or I wasn't clear about) is that there are dozens of PC maker out there to choose from, some if which may provide what she wants, and others that don't. If she can't find a PC maker that can give her Windows XP pre-installed, she can pay someone to do it, build her own PC and install whatever she wants, or not buy a PC at all.

There is no reason why she should be suing someone because they don't sell what she wants at the price she wants to pay.
What next, sue a car dealership because the factory stopped offering candy-apple red as a color option in the new models?

If someone is insisting on XP instead of Vista on their computer, I think it is safe to assume they're not newcomers to Windows.
It's also not like Newegg is the only place selling copies of XP Home. Just do a Google search, and you'll see a number of results for Amazon and a number of other retailers selling it.

I don't know what newcomers should start with. Personally, I think that Vista got a bad rap from the beginning because Microsoft released it before it was an actual finished product. Vista SP1 works pretty well, if one overlooks some annoying things like UAC.
It's a lot easier to use than most Linux distributions out there.

I run Vista64 Ultimate on my desktop, with VMWare guests for Ubuntu 8, Centos 5.2, and FreeBSD. Rock solid, all the time, and I don't have to jump through hoops to have all my hardware recognized. Once you get married and have a family, you realize you just don't have the time to 'tweak this or that' just to get some simple stuff to work, that should work from the beginning.

Ok.

So... it's somehow my fault everyone loves my food and the other food producers can't compete? Ok, moving on...

I'm going to assume by your analogy that you have a pretty negative opinion of Windows or MS by comparing it to hemlock, which makes your analogy inherently biased.

In any case, this is where your analogy starts falling apart.
For it to be closer to this real-life scenario, you'd also have the option of buying just the food, but you must pay a fee to have the hemlock removed or replaced from your shopping cart. I buy the hemlock, and the hemlock growers give me a bulk discount, so I have to get rid of the stock.

However, only about 0.05% of my customers complain about the hemlock being bundled with their groceries and want Skittles instead; the other 99.95% seem to either be happy or not caring about it. The 0.05% of complaining customers don't really make a dent in the books, since the hemlock growers discount more than makes up for those 'lost' customers.

If instead of the hemlock you want Skittles, I have to charge you for the Skittles (I don't get the same bulk discount from the Skittles source), and for the cost of removing and storing or disposing of the hemlock.
Of course, you can always grow your own organic food, or open your own market and have people come and buy food from you.

Ultimately, PC makers can't seem to make money on systems with Linux installed. It just doesn't seem like there is enough demand for it. MS provides incentives to manufacturers to pre-install their OS in new systems, so of course the PC makers will bundle it with their systems.
MS and the PC makers are not telling you what you can and can't run after you buy it. You can always install something else afterwards.

Uh what? You gotta be kidding, right?

You might want to check Newegg then.
You can buy as many lawful copies of Windows XP Home Edition for you to install on your own system for $90/each.

Thanks for playing.

Then don't buy it, period. If you're so adamant about not touching Vista in any way/shape/form, and all manufacturers offer are systems with Vista pre-installed, then I guess you won't be purchasing a system then. That's the choice you have.

How is it illogical?
It is not uncommon to find 'older' things to be more expensive than 'new' things for whatever reason. For example, original IBM Model M keyboards are quite pricey, even though they're *old*. You can get a Model M clone from a number of different places (cheap too), but it's not quite the same, so people will still pay a premium for the original Model M.
There's dozens of other examples such as this one out there, just look for them.

You were given the choice to buy it as is, pay extra to get it 'your way', or not buy it at all. I'd say there is ample room there to make a choice.

You're wrong when you think in terms of 'allowance'.
Manufacturers are not allowing you to do anything; they make a product and offer it for sale, and it's your choice to buy it or not. If the product does not meet your needs, expectations, or ideology, you're free to buy a different product, not buy anything at all, or go build your own.
Manufacturers are in business to make a profit, not to respond to every whiner's whim.
That's what people seem to be forgetting.

When Sony advertises the PS3, it specifically states in the ad or the box whether that specific model will or not it will be able to play PS2 titles. If you want PS2 functionality, you either pay extra for a model that is backwards-compatible (*gasp*) or you will have to buy a PS2 as well.

When you buy Terminator 2, you're getting Terminator 2 and nothing else, unless you're buying a bundle that includes the previous version.

Likewise, when a person buys a PC with Vista, that's exactly what they're getting. If they want a PC with XP, they either pay extra for whatever reason the manufacturer seems to think it's valid, or they're free to go get their own copy and install it. No one is forcing you to buy it; you're free to decide not to buy it at all.

There are extra costs incurred by the PC manufacturer when they have to make changes to their 'assembly-line' model. It's no accident that you can get systems for dirt cheap these days, and this means they have to cut costs in any way possible, including limiting the number of steps during assembly, OS installation, etc. Having to make a change to this process results in extra costs, which obviously will be passed on to the consumer (duh). Whether these costs are justifiable or not doesn't matter; you either pay them, or you don't.

You don't want a PC with Vista? Fine, don't buy it. You want the PC but with XP? Fine, buy it with Vista and install it yourself, *or* pay the extra $50 or whatever and have them do it for you. You were given the choice, don't bitch about it.

What's with this entitlement attitude that's been creeping up allover the place? When will consumers understand that they're not entitled to anything other than what's specifically agreed to as part of the specific items or goods being sold?

I wonder if we should also be able to sue dumbasses like this lady for bringing frivolous lawsuits to the courts and taking up valuable time and tax dollars that could be better used for more relevant things, like going after actual criminals.

Most adjustable keyboard trays commonly found in office-type furniture will work fine with this keyboard, like this one or this one

The cheap, narrow kind of keyboard trays that you can find in the self-assembly desks (like this one) probably won't allow this keyboard to fit, but if you're concerned about RSI, chances are you don't have a cheap desk like the one in the pic.

It really depends.

At work I use a Microsoft Trackball Explorer which is probably one of the best trackball mice ever made, and are nearly impossible to find nowadays.
I know a few people that use the Logitech Cordless Trackman Optical and love it, but it didn't feel confortable enough for my own use.

At home, I use a Logitech G9 mouse and a Ideazon Fang for gaming sessions, but for everything else I tend to just rely on keyboard shortcuts to navigate around my desktop.