By Natasha Lomas, 2 October 2007 09:35
NEWS
A European think tank's recent recommendation that computers should be sold without an OS - so called 'naked PCs' - in order to tackle Microsoft's dominant position and foster competition in the OS marketplace has got silicon.com readers fired up.
For many readers, the issue is simple: most PC users aren't capable of - or interested in - understanding the workings of their computer. Reader Dale Beutel, a software engineer from Chicago, Illinois, wrote: "I believe the vast majority of PCs purchased are for users who operate them, which is a far cry from understanding themÂ… Simply put, an OS must be offered pre-installed for most consumers and many small companies."
Another reader - an IT buyer from Derby - warned: "Don't try to remove the convenience of buying a PC with its operating system installed, because Mr Joe Public wants simplicity - to take his PC home, switch it on and use it to access www, play games, watch videos, send email. He doesn't want to perform a black start, installing the OS and then each piece of s/w that was previously pre-installed to make his experience easy and enjoyable."
Sales director Gareth Evans, from Bath, added: "By far and away the bulk of people buying a PC don't want the bother of installing the operating system on a new PC. They are never going to choose some silly piece of geek software. They just want a simple life and have Windows pre-installed."
Another reader wrote: "It's only us 'geeks' that are bothered about this issue. Who really cares as long as it works when you flick the power switch?"
But the 'keep it simple, stupid' camp was challenged by other readers who are not so content with the Windows-dominated status quo - or the effect this has on PC users.
Skills Survey 2007
Find out the results of this year's Skills Survey:
♦
Are CIOs getting less cash?
♦ How the staffing crisis is deepening
♦ How techie salaries are faring
♦ Offshoring still a hot potato
♦ Banks hardest hit by staff crisis
♦ Industry falling out of love with IT grads
For example, software engineer David Fletcher blamed "the likes of Microsoft" for dumbing down PC users by encouraging them to adopt a 'toaster-style' mentality towards their PCs: "They don't seem to realise that a PC is NOT an item of consumer goods like a washing machine or a toaster. Would anybody use an angle grinder without eye protection? Only if they were complete idiots. Yet that is how the world's PCs are turning into botnets - people running Windows on them and not protecting themselves against intrusion."
Other readers are more pragmatic about Microsoft's position. Jeremy Wickins, a researcher from Sheffield, wrote: "Sure, I'd like to see a bit more support for Linux flavours (at least the major ones) and anything that irritates Microsoft is just fine by me, but it seems that this idea [selling computers as naked PCs] might just work against the consumer who just wants something that does a job."
Graham, a developer from Richmond, suggested Windows should be pre-installed at no charge but require payment to be activated. "This would obviate the need to have a cashback option for those who didn't want Windows or to sell separate naked PCs," he wrote. "If there's a genuine clamour for choice, system builders will then be able pre-install Linux etc alongside Windows with no impact on their pricing model."
The high cost to business of having Windows pre-installed on PCs was certainly an issue for silicon.com's CIO Jury. Three-quarters of the jury backed calls for naked PCs, not only to foster diversity of OSes but also to bring down costs.
On the business side, several Reader Comments point to the fact many companies do not use pre-installed OSes but rather choose to install a 'standard image' on each machine. By starting from a naked PC, businesses would at least save time (due to not having to delete the existing installation), if not cash too, they said.
Another reader, Austin Holdsworth, a director from the Midlands, said although "the ideal of a standard OS is a noble one" it must not be allowed to get in the way of support for standards, which can in turn help to unlock monopolies.
Holdsworth added: "Avoiding vendor lock-in and incompatibilities is achieved by sourcing products that adhere to international standards. Document, communication and software development standards do exist. That wasn't possible even 10 years ago but is now a reality. Even Microsoft has come to realise this."
Comments
There are 11 comments. Join the discussion
1. anonymous
For me the issue is more about licencing. As microsoft doesn't allow upgrade from preinstalled OEM versions of Windows, user couldactually be better serverd in the long term by getting a full copy of the OS along with their PC rather than having it pre-installed.
From a business perspective, my employer has an enterprise licence and wipes all new machines before loading a standard image so getting them naked makes sense.
2. Dom
Keep it stupid simple.
Am a Linux lover, hence I'd love a solution
where I wouldn't have to pay the MS tax.
However I do realise that Joe Public isn't interested in having to install an OS on his new PC once he gets back home with it.
It's not easy for PC manufacturers to support both Windows and Linux either.
Here is such an easy solution that I can't understand why it hasn't become mainstream.
Have PC manufacturers sale PCs either with Windows or no OS (but include Linux drivers if no OS is bundled).
That way Joe Public would still be able to walk away from the store with his PC ready to play with.
And Linux lovers and IT professionals (like me) would be able to get a box without being forced to pay the MS tax.
3. Geoff G
Naked PCs would be a great idea - but we need Apple to release it's operating system to run on any PC - that would give OSX (and Linux) a more even chance against Windows!
4. Chris Down
Those of us with longer memories who started installing and using IBM compatible PCs in the mid 1980s will recall that PCs came pretty well naked then.
I was scarred for life running FDISK to prepare the hard disk, installing the DOS version of your choice, tweaking config.sys and autoexec.bat so your applications would run. How I hated those early hard disk PCs, I almost longed for the old days of the dual floppy where you just put the system disk in the drive, switched on and started working.
The vast majority of users see the PC as an appliance. They no more want to install an OS on the PC than they want to install an OS on their cooker or washing machine.
Perhaps the "think tank" that came up wit this idea should all be given naked PCs and be cut off from their corporate IT infrastructure... see if they think the same way after a week or so.
5. John H Woods
Simple solution: pre-install a dual boot Ubuntu / Windows. The latter can be time-limited and require money to activate. Anyone who wants a different flavour of Linux can do what they like: those who balk at installing an O/S will like Ubuntu.
Lots of those who advocate simplicity forget that Ubuntu comes with Open Office pre-installed. If I had a penny for everytime someone complained they had bought a PC and it hadn't come with MS Office preinstalled ...
6. contentious
Would we let a car on the road without insurance, would we let other people keep on damaging our property, would you let the car on the road without MOT for safety.
All of these things are already taken care off for other things via legislation, since all of these bot nets are now hijacking all of the other systems out there it's time to tackle it at the root.
Let users have the choice, let them have the naked PC's, let them choose what they want and misconfigure it: But make it mandatory to have protection to prevent their stoopidity impacting and damaging other peoples kit and property.
Time to make it compulsary to have firewalls, antivirus, antispyware etal. This way users can have what they want but must also take out "insurance" that won't let the system operate until it is in place: and then who cares what it is running
7. anonymous
Would we insist all new cars are bought with basic insurance cover form the Micro$oft monopoly included whether the buyer wants it or not?
There should be a choice of insurance companies (ie Linux). Also some people don't like the basic cover that Micro$oft offers and buys a more expensive cover. So they pay twice.
I am in favour of naked PCs with Ubuntu and Window installed. There should be a charge to activate the Micro$ofts OS partition.
8. Osay Osman Yuuni
I remember when we started using PCs in the 80's we used to have naked ones. We installed every piece of software and it helped us learn much about PCs. For IT infrastructure people naked PCs are the way to go as in most cases we have "break" the pre-installed OS to put in standard ones. A downside though is the shortage of IT staff. With naked PCs everyday consumers will require assistance installing their OSes and software (work for laid off IT staff) but the dearth of IT workers might leave a lot of PC buyers frustrated.
9. Ellen O
I think this is more to do with the EUs anti-American, anti-Microsoft bias.
Imagine if Microsoft was a European company. I'd bet a million bucks they would not be making these petty pronouncements then.
It would be trotted out as a marvel of European ingenuity.
10. anonymous
Funny how the only people commenting are IT professionals, IT sales, etc.
Did nobody think to ask END USERS? After all, IT departments will image their PCs and never "miss a beat". It's the End Users that will be affected.
By the way, I installed Ubuntu on an older laptop. I was somewhat disappointed--nothing needed tweaking! It worked after the end-of-installation reboot. Nothing to tinker with. I had to add virtualization to have the joy of googling, tinkering, and success that the installation denied me!
I wish they would implement this suggestion in the U.S.A.
11. Joe Smythe
Really doing this was kinda fun. I did it often as many early motherboards had their own ideosyncracies as well. Remember the jumpers and the early BIOSes...the ones that did NOT spy on you? The PC that you ended up with after all this was truly yours, AND you trusted it. It did not 'download' your valuable business data to your competitors, disgruntled employees, or the government in the dead of night. It did not silently call the cops on you when your kid's friend installed his game on your machine so he and your kid could play on it as well as his machine. Software was then considered an intangible idea and free for anyone to come up with, and was not 'copyrightable, patentable, ...or trademarkable in any way. That was REALLY a better world then.