Hello Olav,
Am Donnerstag, 17. März 2022, 15:36:19 CET schrieb Olav Reinert:
On Wed, 2022-03-16 at 22:57 +1030, Simon Lees wrote:
In reality the only way you could do something like this and actually have it work is not by requiring Vendors to "offer a choice" but rather a model where consumers could hand there OEM keys back to Microsoft and get a rebate in return.
I agree that something like this is the better option.
I think it is just the second best option.
Vendors should be free to ship whatever software they want with their products, according to what they think sells best, or is most suitable for purpose, or whatever.
However, consumers should also be free to wipe the bundled software and replace it with something else. And, crucially, if the bundled software isn't free, there should be a standard procedure for returning the license and get a refund.
As mentioned earlier, it is a matter or education and awareness. Most users just take what they get offered, because they are not aware of alternatives, too lazy or just not interested. Nevertheless, their data is taken without option to bail-out. This is not prevented if 'just' a refund is offered.
Then I would finally be able to buy whatever laptop I want without being forced to pay a Microsoft tax. :-)
I'm completely with you that this option should exist. But it will not come without any action / pressure being build up. It may be one outcome of the current initiative, though.
Cheers Axel