From: "Paul Ranson" 

"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.

> 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.

Paul

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