Get your Windows license refund • Hacker News Board

Re: Get your Windows license refund

#121

Post by pineaux » Fri, Aug 28, 2026, 4:54 PM UTC

vel0city wrote: post #114

supernikio2 wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The key word here is "impose". I can imagine a world where at time of purchase you would select which OS (if any) you would want pre-installed on the machine. Even a checkbox for Yes/No Windows would be an improvement.

And then people go to Best Buy and see there's a model on the shelf that looks to be the exact same but its $60 cheaper, so they buy that and then realize they have no idea what to do with it so I guess this brand of laptop just sucks, Macs don't have that problem I guess I'll just buy those instead.

Apple should also be forced to allow the user freedom to choose at least one other OS. But maybe thats too much to ask. I think it's not too much too ask, but I am probably an outlier. Dont start about Asahi please. I know it exists.

Re: Get your Windows license refund

#122

Post by TazeTSchnitzel » Fri, Aug 28, 2026, 4:54 PM UTC

piokoch wrote: post #45

That's why I like Lenovo, you can just buy version without OS.

Because the quoted price for their laptops always includes Windows, the option to configure and remove the Windows license is effectively a discount for alternative OS users. :)

Re: Get your Windows license refund

#123

Post by 7bit » Fri, Aug 28, 2026, 4:55 PM UTC

Joel_Mckay wrote: post #101

recursive wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The hardware is separable from the windows though.

Not always, Microsoft lingers like a fart in an elevator on some laptops. =3 https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/blog/windows-itpro-blog/...

Yes, always. The link you pasted doesn't prove otherwise. It just shows a luck of understanding UEFI

Re: Get your Windows license refund

#124

Post by Barbing » Fri, Aug 28, 2026, 4:55 PM UTC

Joel_Mckay wrote: post #101

recursive wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The hardware is separable from the windows though.

Not always, Microsoft lingers like a fart in an elevator on some laptops. =3 https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/blog/windows-itpro-blog/...

  “Note: Affected third-party OS includes MacOS. However, it's outside the scope of Microsoft support. For Linux systems dual booting with Windows, Windows will update the certificates that Linux relies on.”

macOS users out of luck?

Re: Get your Windows license refund

#125

Post by 7bit » Fri, Aug 28, 2026, 4:58 PM UTC

redeeman wrote: post #81

gwbas1c wrote: post #76

Seems like it makes a lot more sense to buy a computer without Windows preinstalled. > Device manufacturers and vendors should not impose an operating system or software on consumers This is not a reasonable expectation. Hardware needs software to work, and software runs on an operating system. You can't expect every vendor in the work of every kind of product you can buy to offer you a slightly different version tha…

i think its reasonable that people who sell computer monitors also demand you purchase a computer or other output device from them. Why do you feel differently here? after all, a computer monitor needs a computer or other output device to work, no?

You are comparing apples and oranges.

Re: Get your Windows license refund

#126

Post by trevithick » Fri, Aug 28, 2026, 4:59 PM UTC

alecsm wrote: post #100

throw902309 wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would rather get full refound for laptop, if I disagree with the license. Windows is unseparatable from hardware after all... Use laptop for a few months, than finally boot windows install...

Why bother making a throwaway account only to post a comment that is obviously and blatantly wrong?

https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Cunningham's_Law

Re: Get your Windows license refund

#127

Post by scrollop » Fri, Aug 28, 2026, 5:00 PM UTC

AnodicElegy wrote: post #108

I switched two of my PCs over to Linux Mint last week. The automatic driver support is shockingly good compared to when I last installed Linux on a PC (almost 20 years ago). It even found a driver for the random no-name USB wireless receiver I bought on Amazon, whereas I had to install that driver manually on Windows. Part of my motivation was that one of the machines was still on Windows 7, but more than anything it…

Finding it's much easier to migrate to linux with an llm as a troubleshooting assistant.

Even used it to make a task bar applet adjacent to Media Controls, where I can rate the current plexamp song without having to open plexamp.

A big plus of linux is the easy ability to use workspaces and switch between them with a hover over the workspace taskbar applet and the mousewheel (and other options).

Re: Get your Windows license refund

#128

Post by yepyeppers » Fri, Aug 28, 2026, 5:01 PM UTC

graypegg wrote: post #91

kqp wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why do you assume that? I’m genuinely asking. I’m aware of big companies generally paying lower rates for things, but I believe that’s usually driven by the increased leverage a big buyer has, while Asus has absolutely no leverage, if they switch to Linux today they’ll be out of business tomorrow. It certainly costs MS less to deal with one professional org than a million flaky individuals, but price is determined by…

Asus selling millions of PCs a year that each pester their users to make a Microsoft account is well worth a major discount to them than any sort of additional OEM licensing revenue. Giving Asus cheap licenses lets them sell cheaper units to more people. And yeah, Asus DOES need to sell windows laptops because the market demands it, but it doesn't mean they need to follow all of Microsoft's rules/goals. ("Pleeeeease…

That’s a narrow view to suggest it’s just Microsoft’s Copilot that’s pushing NPU’s on PCs. You need some NPU or GPU for system requirements not just for Copilot but for any local models including Gemini Nano in Chrome, open models, models running on Linux without Windows at all. Intel and AMD are both making chips with NPU’s on the die just like they have made them with integrated GPUs.

AI isn’t going away any more than graphics acceleration is. You can deliberately buy a low-power board or notebook that doesn’t have those capabilities if you want. It will save you money too.

Re: Get your Windows license refund

#129

Post by trelane » Fri, Aug 28, 2026, 5:01 PM UTC

Just getting your money back doesn't make it work well with other operating systems.

Instead, buy hardware from vendors that ship hardware with the operating system you want to use preinstalled, and with support you can contact to get help if something breaks.

Re: Get your Windows license refund

#130

Post by yepyeppers » Fri, Aug 28, 2026, 5:05 PM UTC

fwipsy wrote: post #66

kqp wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why do you assume that? I’m genuinely asking. I’m aware of big companies generally paying lower rates for things, but I believe that’s usually driven by the increased leverage a big buyer has, while Asus has absolutely no leverage, if they switch to Linux today they’ll be out of business tomorrow. It certainly costs MS less to deal with one professional org than a million flaky individuals, but price is determined by…

You can get a new Windows 11 laptop on Amazon for ~$200. If they're paying retail cost ($140) for the license, over half that is going to Microsoft. I think most people would much rather buy the equivalent Chromebook for $70. In fact, the equivalent Chromebook costs about the same.

That’s not how OEM pricing works. Depending on the retail price and volume Microsoft will lower license cost close to $0. No large manufacturer is paying $140 to license Windows for a notebook selling $200. That’s the full retail price for a consumer building their own PC. That said usable Windows notebooks are usually a bit more than that these days. And just the RAM alone to run usable Windows 11 is pushing $70 now.