[PCWorld]

Post your comments for Microsoft enlists Dell to push Office 365 on new PCs here

[Patruns]

Just one more reason not to buy a Dell anymore. I bought a new HP in September as just about all of the desktops on Dell were preloaded with Windows 8 and many could not be customized to any great extent.

[brainout]

Patruns, on 21 February 2013 - 08:36 AM, said:

Just one more reason not to buy a Dell anymore. I bought a new HP in September as just about all of the desktops on Dell were preloaded with Windows 8 and many could not be customized to any great extent.

You can still get Windows 7 machines from Dell. I just bought three, one in November, and two laptops in January. You can get them at greatly reduced prices, and I'm really happy with the machines. See my 'Dell Saga' videos in Youtube, nickname 'brainouty'. Look at the vid descriptions (you don't need to watch the videos, really). The links are there. Most offer MS Office 2010 Starter, which I delete as soon as I set up the machine. I can get better MS Office in 2003 and prior, and for less than $100, one desktop-and-one-laptop perpetual license that allows me to change the machines later. Why would I want anything else?

MS has no idea how they've alienated their MS Office base post-2003. They denuded MS Office of its customizability, and the add-ins we have, don't work on the newer versions. Well, we don't need what the newer versions have, and the newer ones are GLARE SCREEN ugly, same dippy GLARE interface philosophy as Google now uses in Youtube and elsewhere. So, sales are lost. Better for them to fix the bugs in the older versions, and keep the interface the same. But oh no. Sanity is not desired.

Example: I've been trying to buy a Dell Latitude 6530 with i5 3rd gen, since last July. Just got it in January, for 50% of the July price. Great machine. Same, for a year-older, Dell 6510 with 1st-gen i7 quad, 8 GB ram on 32-bit Win7 Pro, so I can run a Linux 64-bit on a stick (or, later arrange to put Win8 64-bit in dual-boot). The Optiplex is older, 2009 with Core 2 Duo. but I love how it works. Really good quality, and unlike the newer Dell machines sold, YOU GET THE MEDIA. Full 3-year warranty applies to the 6530, up to one year on the 6510, and they have easily-switched out internal hard drives (you don't even have to remove the cover). Memory is easy to change, too.

I used to be somewhat antagonistic to Dell, but no longer.

This post has been edited by brainout: 21 February 2013 - 08:58 AM

[thewazak]

" .....through the carrot of Office 365....." ???????????????
Carrot? You mean Millstone?
If the typical life of a PC is approximately 4.5 years - that means with Office 365, MS gets $450 in subscription during that period.
A license costs a LOT less.
Maybe I'm not good at math - but that seems a funny shaped carrot!

[ronin7752]

Ahhh! There *were* strings on that "loan"....!

[ronin7752]

MSO 365 is a *TOTALLY* stupid investment for most of my customers. I still use 2003, and don't need to upgrade at all for my SB needs. I would have spent $1000 on a "365" deal for features I'd never need or use.

M$ has shot itself in the foot again... (Does it even have any feet left to shoot...?)

[thewazak]

Quote

ronin7752 said - "M$ has shot itself in the foot again... (Does it even have any feet left to shoot...?)"

Just for a change I agree with you 100 per cent!
Unlike the diehard fanbois, I simply can't support a company regardless - just because I like most of it!
Unfortunately (for some) MS seems to be a self reforming octopus. Providing it does not actually hang itself, (which does not look impossible at the moment!) it will keep going with enough feet to survive ....