Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Dell still doesn't grok Ubuntu

I'm selecting a laptop for my kids. Mostly because they keep pestering my wife for her laptop. I'd love to get them Ubuntu because I'd love to teach them computer programming, and I like Ubuntu as an environment for that. I also like if for kids as it is less succeptible to spyware, viruses, and malware in general. My kids play Wizard 101 online, and according to one user, that works well under Wine.

So I'm configuring a laptop on Dell, going through their twenty page configuration process. On page one I specify Ubuntu. Eight or so pages later, Dell is asking me if I want Norton Internet Security 2009, Computer Associates Internet Security Plus 2009, and QuickBooks Pro 2009. Hello, none of them run on Ubuntu as installed. I'd love it if Intuit offered Linux software, especially Quicken which I use religously. So unless Dell is going to be including Wine configurations for each of these Windows applications they are selling with Ubuntu, they really are doing a disservice to their customer. An uniformed purchaser is going to assume the apps run on the computer they are purchasing, right out of the box. After purchase, do you think Dell is going to let the customer "return" this software?

No comments: