From: "Adam Flinton" 


"Paul Ranson"  wrote in message
news:3e4a4e03$1{at}w3.nls.net...
> "Adam Flinton"  wrote in message
> news:3e4a3a22$1{at}w3.nls.net...
> > Not true. The large system builders undoubtably invest in making usre
> their
> > choices of hardware & software work well with XP. White box builders
> > probably don't & are tagging along "for free".
>
> I think you're really reaching. Dell don't create drivers for other
> manufacturers generic hardware and then place that work back in the public
> domain.
>

Nope but they ensure that the drivers are there for that machinery. E.g.
let's say a new bit of hardware comes along. Dell says "we'll chuck
this into one of our models". 2 million machines later the hardware in
that machine will be a well supported bit of kit under windows. Then you
will see the vendor selling the same kit under possibly different no name
branding & voila another well supported under windows piece of
hardware.


> > That presupposes that somehow Dell are not investing in Windows & are
just
> > slapping machines together while relying entirely on MS / Windows to
solve
> > all the problems.
> >
> > Do Dell spend 0 USD on making sure that when they release a new desktop
or
> > server that the various bits of hardware & software work well with
> Windows?
> > I don't think so.
> >
> > So they invest in Windows & guess what,  Sony (& all
others) gain that
> work
> > for free as part of the Windows "product".
>
> You're really stretching. Making Windows work well on a Dell isn't making
> Windows work well on a Sony. And is a world away from Dell making Linux
more
> competitive with Windows and then giving that advantage to Sony.
>

Nope but kit is kit. next year there will be new kit because to maintain
sales the catalog has to be redone every ...6 months? As such if (as an
example) Sony wanted to get it's Ilink/firewire stuff properly working then
it would prefer to do that once & then to build off that base. If it
wants to lower its overall support & dev costs for the system if it
could get the ilink/firewire stuff into a std driver pack (for either/both
Windows & Linux) then it lowers it's costs. For Sony & Dell it's
about shifting hardware. They're not software sellers. Their "core
competancy" is in building machines for you to buy.

Does Sony ensuring firewire works well on both windows & linux benefit dell
& in some way harm Sony? Possibly unless you consider that you maybe using
the firewire stuff on the dell to attach to your new Sony DigiVidCam.

Does Dell ensuring that a given RAID array in a server model benefit IBM,
HP or Sony? Possibly but possibly not ( given the choices in RAID
hardware). The possibly part comes from ensuring the RAID system handling
& the stuff built on top of it (e.g. an admin utility) works well &
that would apply at a generic RAID level for HP, Dell & IBM. However it
would also help their customers who may well have bought on the basis of
"must have RAID & then check the price sticker" & have
bought the box on that basis & just want the damn thing to work &
will blame the hardware vendor if it doesn't.

So if you're Dell & your customers are saying "box must have SCSI
RAID" do you really want to get into the software business? You will
work with the hardware (mobo or RAID card) supplier but what would be the
benefit to you of using the "Dell specific RAID subsystem" for
either Windows or Linux?

Adam

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