<html><body><div style="color:#000; background-color:#fff; font-family:times new roman, new york, times, serif;font-size:12pt"><div></div><div><span>Good point John. I like your definition too David. I was
fitting up an additional WiFi point for a relation and was also supposed
to get a old XP laptop working with it. It ran reaaaaly slow despite a
fast single core CPU and an upgrade to 2GB memory. It had also been
defregged & scanned for viruses. There was the Microsoft WiFi set up
then a Belkin WiFi setup. It just wouldn't play ball at all. Meanwhile
my eeePC, running Xubuntu, worked just fine, as did my Galaxy S3.
Normally I say no to people who want me to do Windows stuff - "I'm not
your man - try someone who does Windows". <br></span></div><div>I follow it by asking what they use their computer for and, if appropriate, offer to put a Linux distribution on for them.</div><div>This is a bit of a risk because it might be that the WiFi or the camera
doesn't work but, fortunately, I have always been lucky in that I've got it all to work.</div>Brian<div><br></div> <div style="font-family: times new roman, new york, times, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> <div style="font-family: times new roman, new york, times, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> <div dir="ltr"> <font face="Arial" size="2"> <hr size="1"> <b><span style="font-weight:bold;">From:</span></b> David Carpenter <david.carpenter@nornir.co.uk><br> <b><span style="font-weight: bold;">To:</span></b> John R. Hudson <j.r.hudson@virginmedia.com> <br><b><span style="font-weight: bold;">Cc:</span></b> "bradford@mailman.lug.org.uk" <bradford@mailman.lug.org.uk> <br> <b><span style="font-weight: bold;">Sent:</span></b> Thursday, 6 December 2012, 9:29<br> <b><span style="font-weight: bold;">Subject:</span></b> Re: [Bradford] Blog: Amazon UK and the Microsoft Tax<br> </font> </div> <br>Whenever I spend time doing something horrendous with someone
else's<br>Windows machine, like updating, installing software that requires<br>registration, virus checking, rebooting, uninstalling stuff to make it<br>work again, etc etc I always refer to that as the Microsoft tax - the<br>amount of time spent on a Windows computer being unproductive.<br><br>David<br><br>On 6 December 2012 08:33, John R. Hudson <<a ymailto="mailto:j.r.hudson@virginmedia.com" href="mailto:j.r.hudson@virginmedia.com">j.r.hudson@virginmedia.com</a>> wrote:<br>> On Thu, 2012-12-06 at 01:22 +0000, <a ymailto="mailto:x-ric@brucenetworks.com" href="mailto:x-ric@brucenetworks.com">x-ric@brucenetworks.com</a> wrote:<br>>> On 06/12/2012 01:04, Brian wrote:<br>>><br>>> > My definition: Microsoft Tax - Being compelled to pay for a<br>>> > Microsoft OS that you don't want when you buy a computer.<br>>> > I found this blog which catalogues how Amazon UK have so obviously<br>>> > dragged
their heels when they have been requested to refund the<br>>> > Microsoft Tax.<br>>> > Shamazon: why Amazon UK suck<br>>> > <a href="http://www.samnazarko.co.uk/" target="_blank">http://www.samnazarko.co.uk/</a><br>>> > Sam Nazarko is also known for:<br>>> > <a href="http://www.raspbmc.com/" target="_blank">http://www.raspbmc.com</a><br>>> ><br>>> > morning<br>>> > It's the manufacturers sweet deals with microsoft the trick here<br>>> > you may see this end shortly given they screwed them with<br>>> > starting to make there own hardware.<br>>> ><br>>> > rich<br>>> ><br>> There was an interesting piece in LXF by Michael Meeks explaining how<br>> OEM suppliers supplement their profits with virus, media and other<br>> programs they include for which they get a percentage if the purchaser<br>> upgrades to the paid
version.<br>><br>> So putting Windows on hardware is a way of increasing profits per unit<br>> which doesn't exist with Linux. I know this doesn't strictly relate to<br>> getting back the Windows tax but it illustrates that the situation is<br>> not as straightforward as it might appear.<br>><br>> John<br>> --<br>><br>><br>><br>> _______________________________________________<br>> Bradford mailing list<br>> <a ymailto="mailto:Bradford@mailman.lug.org.uk" href="mailto:Bradford@mailman.lug.org.uk">Bradford@mailman.lug.org.uk</a><br>> <a href="https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/bradford" target="_blank">https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/bradford</a><br><br>_______________________________________________<br>Bradford mailing list<br><a ymailto="mailto:Bradford@mailman.lug.org.uk" href="mailto:Bradford@mailman.lug.org.uk">Bradford@mailman.lug.org.uk</a><br><a
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