Not really anything new - people have been buying groceries on credit cards for years, it helps to meet basic needs between paychecks. This is a shift from asking a friend or family member bo borrow a few hundred dollars until payday to using an app and avoiding embarrassing conversations with friends or family.

The thing to look out for is when people start missing payments, incurring late fees, etc., that means they have run out of resources/options.

Using credit to manage cash-flow issues isn't necessarily a sign of an impending depression, borrowing $500 or $1,000 has never been easier, and I think that ease is the main driver for the uptick in activity.

Borrowing for basic needs is not sustainable, I'd be curious about the repayment history (how long to pay-off loan) and repetition (how often).

As I recall, micro loans were once the things that were going to lift countless poor folks out of poverty in third-world countries, but somehow micro loans in the US is a sign the economy is about to implode?

They get a discount because the OEMs agree to install the OS on EVERY computer, no exception - it takes the per-unit price down to $20ish per PC.

The discount has nothing to do with packaging savings, there is no media shipped with the PC, no floppies, no CD/DVD, etc.

Citation?

I find it hard to believe any major manufacturer would forgo volume discounts available by committing to include Win 11 on each and every shipping computer in order to add an additional cost for a nearly required item like Windows OS.

FFS, do you not understand the difference between OEM and Retail pricing?

OEMs buy COAs by the tens of thousands, and get significant discounts by doing things like supporting the end-user.

Retail licenses cover MS providing some level of customer support, and include retail markup for the seller.

Is a 10% increase on something that costs around $20 really qualify as a "a big Windows 11 price hike"?

No.

Will that 10% license cost increase wind-up being paid for by the customer? Of Course. The customer pays every expense, but the 10% COA license cost increase will likely be mitigated by potentially lower prices on things like CPUs (using lower-spec parts) and other components - this is not the "big event" many here are claiming.

The "Average Windows User" never upgrades RAM or Storage, they replace the machine, and machine prices may keep them from upgrading/replacing their systems - it is the rare Windows User that would explore alternative OS options for their current PC when they feel they've outgrown their current Windows machine.

By offering an OS other than Windows on a particular model, Dell loses the discount offered to them by MS for all licenses on that model.

If they offered Linux on the XPS 15, dell would pay more for every COA for every Window XPS 15 - I guarantee you there are way, way, way more XPS 15 buyers that want Windows 11 than would consider buying they XPS 15 without Windows/with Linux.

There's also the issue of supporting Linux on multiple models (driver updates, etc - not a major expense, but an unnecessary expense for such a low-interest item)...

Why would they complain? The USERS (artists) live in a handful of custom and commercial applications, don't use their desktops for so-called "general computing" applications, and are supported by a team of Linux Sys Admins whose job is to create a useful/productive workspace for them. The average windows user likely does a lot more "general computing" and lacks the support of a Sys Admin team...

Maybe they "could", but they have literally NO INTEREST in exploring anything other than the OS they have been using since grade school, be it Windows or macOS.

"Most people don't need Windows"? Really Windows has about 75-80% market share for desktop users - that would tend to argue against your claim...

Windows Refunds are not really a thing.

OEMs agree to bundle a Win11 license with every computer of a given model and mention Win11 in printed advertisements, in return MS discounts the per unit OEM license for the OEM.

To get a refund from the OEM, the OEM would have to agree to just hand you money from their wallet - there is no "refund" or "credit" from MS.

Also, as a reminder, low-spec systems are eligible for FREE Win11 licenses, that is how various random Chinese brands can offer NUC-like boxes for around $100 with Win11 license.

A 10% increase on an OEM COA License for Win11 would add on the order of $2-3/to the build price of a PC - is that really a meaningful increase in system prices?

If you dig into it, the deal is half of freshman will have normal grades, half will be pass/Fail. For various reasons (scholarships, internship and other opportunity requirements) the pass/fail students will have actual letter/numeric grades, but the students won't see their (secret) grades.

Incoming freshmen have somehow survived 12+ years in school getting actual grades and somehow handled it - why is it suddenly an issue in 'grade 13' (Freshman year)?

If a student can't handle getting grades, why not just let them sign up for pass/fail for each class?

The article says 1MW (?) for the entire flight...

And also, the plane weighs 25,000 pounds at take-off and 25,000 pounds at touch-down... That's a lot of mass to push around for 27 minutes and raising up 1,100 feet in the air in the process.

I have no idea where you came up with that number...

"They" in this case likely refers to the reporter/journalist, not necessarily the scientists/engineers behind this project.

1 Megawatt is 1,000 Kilowatts, right?

If 1,000 Kilowatts only costs "about $5", that puts each Kilowatt at about 1/2 cent? Seems kind low...

So this plane flew for 27 minutes 1,100 feet above the ground? Why not higher? (Because it's safer to fall out of the sky at 1,100 feet than at 30,000, LOL?) I wonder how practical it is extrapolate real flight times from such a low-flying example? Do you burn same energy at 30,000 feet as 1,100? How much energy would have been consumed trying to get this plane up to 30,000 feet compared to 1,100 feet?

Seems like they want to treat a very special test case (aloft 27 minutes) with an actual, practical flight, or are EV airplanes going to fly at 1,100 feet?

Any vape is disposable. Disposal can be discouraged, but not prevented.