A Low Man's Lyric

4:58 PM on Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Dell finally gets it

It wasn't very long ago when buying a computer from Dell meant buying yourself a computer filled with crapware. It would take not less than 2 hours to rid the computer of all the junk it came preinstalled with.

Not only Dell but all computer manufacturers including Sony, HP, Acer (these are the only ones I have bought / got new computers with) are guilty of this crime. In fact the situation was so bad that quite often I used to recommend a clean install of the OS as soon as I opened the box. Unfortunately unless you had your own personal copy of Windows, this was not possible, since these computers did not ship with an OS. Instead they shipped with a restore CD which in turn restored the computer to the same bloated state it was in to begin with.

But with Dell's market share falling, the company is reinventing itself - and this time for the better. What prompts me to say this. Well lets see ...

• They are now selling computers with Red Hat, SUSE and Ubuntu Linux preinstalled. Yay!


• They introduced a new line of computers called Vostro today. Why do I like this new product line?
  
  

  Dell today announced a new brand "Vostro"of notebooks and desktops built with a focus on professional design, quality and value, shipped with no trialware and customized to meet the unique needs of small businesses worldwide. To complete the small business solution, the company also introduced a new 19-inch widescreen display, color laser printer and mono multifunction laser printer.

  
  
  Yes, you read that right. No trialware by default. You do not have to ask for it to be removed. Another score.

So yes, I think Dell is finally getting it. The prices are pretty good too. I configured a Vostro laptop today and I think it is a pretty good configuration for the price(I am not going to buy it though. I am waiting for Leopard :))

Labels: crapware, dell, vostro