Lenovo Cuts the Windows Tax and offers Cheaper Laptops with Linux Pre-installed

Submitted ⁨⁨5⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩ by ⁨ForgottenFlux@lemmy.world⁩ to ⁨technology@lemmy.world⁩

https://news.itsfoss.com/lenovo-cuts-windows-tax/

At least in the U.S. and Canada, that is.

This was brought to my attention thanks to a Reddit post where a user (presumably a resident of Canada), had posted how Lenovo was shipping laptops with Fedora and Ubuntu at a cheaper price compared to their Windows-equipped counterparts.

Others then chimed in, saying that Lenovo has been doing this since at least 2020 and that the big price difference shows how ridiculous Windows’ pricing is.

When I dug in further, I found out that the US and Canadian websites for Lenovo offered U.S. $140 and CAD $211 off on the same ThinkPad X1 Carbon model when choosing any one of the Linux-based alternatives.

I think these manufacturers could do a better job in marketing these Linux-based alternative operating systems to general consumers, showing them how they can save big when opting for these instead of the pricey and bloated Windows.

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Comments

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Buffalox@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Wow $140 USD is a lot for preinstalled windows IMO. 😱

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- GhostlyPixel@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Yeah I didn’t believe that amount, looked it up, and it looks like digital W11 Home keys are $139 USD directly from Microsoft.
  
  I’m surprised manufacturers aren’t getting some sort of license discount.
  
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  - slumberlust@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    They are, but likely not passing the savings on.
    
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  - Buffalox@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    When Microsoft battled Android to make their own phones, they demanded a $35 license fee for “Microsoft Patents” on Android!.
    AFAIK that was about the same as a Windows OEM license! Just about every Android phone maker folded and agreed to pay!
    
    So IDK Microsoft can be very aggressive in their license pricing. There are also different versions of Windows, and a multi language is AFAIK more expensive.
    
    Still for me it would be absolutely insane to pay that much, as I would just format it anyway, and install Linux.
    
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  - IronKrill@lemmy.ca ⁨5⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    If I were to guess, I’d say they may get a discount but Lenovo could be reducing their margin to incentivize people away from Windows so they can stop paying out Windows licenses in the future.
    
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- sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works ⁨5⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Yeah, they only gave me like $50 or so off when I told them I didn’t want the Windows license. Granted, it shipped w/ Linux, so they likely still paid for the license, but still.
  
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  - Buffalox@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    We had a campaign here several years ago, and $50 was the accepted rate most places.
    I don’t think you can legally demand it anymore, but you used to be able to demand that windows was removed, and you were compensated for the price of the license.
    Here in EU what made that possible was AFAIK regulation about anti competitive practices.
    
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dwazou@lemm.ee ⁨5⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
If you want to understand how Bill Gates, you should carefully read this article that I found in the archives of the New York Times.

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- sem@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨5⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  One time I asked my brother how he installed iPhone apps that aren’t in the app store. He just said you can’t ???
  
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- alphabethunter@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  It’s crazy that “lobbying budget” and “buying lobbyists” is a thing said in the openness and not illegal. Thanks for sharing this report, it’s a great (disgusting) read.
  
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shalafi@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
The trick with selling Linux is not telling the user it’s not Windows. I used to refurb old laptops for old ladies. Throw a light version of Linux on there, show 'em the internet, maybe setup email, done. And I never got pestered to come back and fix shit.

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- YerbaYerba@lemm.ee ⁨5⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  My grandmother used Ubuntu for years. I setup autologin and put a Firefox shortcut on the Desktop. The next time a problem cropped up was when the LTS support ended
  
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- Sixtyforce@sh.itjust.works ⁨5⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  My parents bought laptops together around 2013 that they still use today, just with new batteries and SSD upgrades.
  
  Windows 10 was already pushing it, I had to do some funky things to stop Windows from overwriting old drivers with newer versions that broke stuff like the trackpads. Now they have Fedora KDE spin. The GUI is similar enough when all you do is use Thunderbird, Firefox, and the File Explorer.
  
  Changing OS was still scary to them, so I just brought over a live USB for them to test drive.
  
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  - shalafi@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    The test drive is brilliant! But for most of the folks I’m talking about, not going to give them a choice that will only confuse them. Not to be the high-handed, know-it-all IT guy, but sometimes you present a solution as a fait accompli. “There ya go! Here’s how it works. Any questions? Enjoy!”
    
    And BTW, YES to you! A fresh $20 battery, an SSD and Linux Light (or similar), new laptop as far as they can tell. We on the same page!
    
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f2sfljLhdtTZ@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
This is no news. Lenovo has been offering a variety of windows or no OS for years.

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- Artyom@lemm.ee ⁨5⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Yes, but they usually came at the same price.
  
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  - msage@programming.dev ⁨5⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    What? What kind of raw deals do you guys get?
    
    In Europe I could always return the Windows licence and get over 100€ back.
    
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  - f2sfljLhdtTZ@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    That’s not correct at all. Did you visit lenovo.com lately?
    
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kane@femboys.biz ⁨5⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
This is fair, and might advertise a bit just how expensive Windows still is.

Have other companies been doing this before, I’ve heard of Dell selling Linux laptops but not sure if they’re cheaper.

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solrize@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
They’ve done that on and off for ages, and the ones being offered with Ubuntu here are mostly pretty expensive or else not so interesting. I’ve been content to buy older Thinkpads and self-install Debian for my past several laptops. I was somewhat tempted by recent Ideapad Yogas but resisted, and since then, prices have gone up, whether due to tariffs or whatever else.

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SplashJackson@lemmy.ca ⁨5⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Haven’t they been doing this for years?

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