Why the $200 Overhead on Dell XPS Laptops with Linux?
I'm not complaining, I'm just genuinely curious. When speccing out an XPS 13 Developer Edition, switching the OS from Windows to Linux bumps the price up by $200. Is it subsidizing whatever work had to go into validating that the OS works as expected on that model?
More than likely, because switching to Linux also drops all the "paid pre-installed windows software" (companies paying Dell to pre-install their software) then this jump in price would give a hint as to how much Dell receives in payment for pre-installing all those windows extras.
It is possible that it is strategic, to discourage customers from purchasing a Linux laptop. This could be for various reasons, such as:
1) Their production pipeline is optimized for windows, so Linux is a deviation requiring some manual intervention that costs extra.
2) Deals with Microsoft, wherein MS incentivizes them Dell based on some criteria, including but not limited to units sold. This is similar to car dealerships with quotas.
3) As others have noted, 3rd Party crapware deals for putting preinstalled crapware on Windows laptops. Fewer such opportunities exist for Linux laptops
A bit off-topic, but if that's the case, then why don't you just buy the Windows version, then wipe the disk and install Linux on it. You effectively save yourself $200.
Is there something I'm missing? Does selecting the developer version use different hardware that has better Linux support?
All, this is a glitch and not intended (as you would expect our Linux based systems are less expensive than our comparable Windows configurations). The team is working to correct this. Thanks for flagging it!
Barton George, Dell
This is surprising to me because it wasn't that long ago (~3-4 years) that I bought an XPS developer edition and it was $100 cheaper than the windows version. At the time, I assumed that was just the cost of the windows license.
Just ran into this buying a laptop! I bought the Windows one, nuked it, and had Ubuntu installed in like 15 minutes :D
Just take advantage of the Windows-environment subsidies. Save yourself a few bucks.
Buy the system with the Windows OS. Back up the OS to a USB thumb drive and store it away carefully. You may need that to reinstall Windows if you want to sell the machine off a year or two later.
Wipe the hard drive completely by installing a new partition table. Install your own favorite Linux distro. Almost invariably, the Linux distro that could come with that machine, is a distro that you wouldn't normally use.
> Is it subsidizing whatever work had to go into validating that the OS works as expected on that model?
I think you nailed it. Free as in freedom, not free beer.
Linux might be rare enough that they only make Windows machines and then have someone pull one out of the box put Linux on it if requested.
One thing to note is that using Arch I haven't had any issues with hardware on any computer I've tried, and usually you can find a comparable Acer or MSI with much better specs for significantly less. I usually don't see much benefit with purchasing overpriced hardware.
If you read what the page and price says you'll see that there is a couple of offers available now that reduced the windows price with ~260 USD.
"Price Includes $250 off through Dell Small Business.
Special Offer"
On the Dell website, you can check out their workstations and see some of the price differences. For example, choose the Precision line. Then for any computer that has a "show all choices" when it lists the operating system, choose the customize option and you can see the prices for all the OS options they give. I randomly chose an i5 desktop and from Windows 10 Pro switching to Ubuntu 20.04 reduces the price by $75, but switching to Red Hat increases the price by $70.
My guess is they know Linux loyalists or newbs will just say ok and pay the money. The rest of the users get it with windows and load their own. It's just kind of a stupidity tax, because they can. I doubt it's because they have to any extra cost to their process.
And the fingerprint scanner won't even work and power management will be last class
I will go to great lengths to avoid funding Microsoft or Apple even if it costs me money. That and It's a way for me to signal interest in Linux support to a hardware vendor (whatever that's worth).
Could it just be that Linux Dell XPS buyers are less price sensitive? There's and underlying assumption in the question that increased Dell pricing is justified by increased Dell expenditure.
Could it just be that Linux Dell XPS buyers are less price sensitive? There's an underlying assumption in the question that increased Dell pricing is justified by increased Dell expenditure.
Because you are more likely to be a professional software engineer with a whopping salary and lower price sensitivity :)
Or am I too cynical about our dear colleagues in marketing?
Perhaps they need to pay extra for Linux IT people which they only cover if your original purchase is a Linux install (plus other reasons given in thread)
Any differences in hardware between the normal and developer editon? Could you just wipe the Windows and install Linux over.
Dell is in bed with Microsoft and needs to do everything they can to make you think twice about your OS
And also, why not change the Windows button symbol?
It is because linux is superior!