Dell are one of the biggest suppliers of compter equipment, sadly most of it is encumbered by pre-installed software however some models have a “-n” designation which signifies their nakedness. There was an nseries range, which seems to have vanished, this range comes with FreeDOS installed which, whilst not technically naked, isn’t much more than a skimpy thong. The Mini-9 netbook comes with the lovely Ubuntu Linux pre-installed and is by all accounts a nice bit of kit.
It seems the low end servers come with a non-removeable operating system, however if you move up the range a bit the default configuration and price is pleasingly naked with Redhat and Suse as upgrade options and a proprietary operating system as a downgrade option.
As I can’t find a naked desktop or laptop from Dell they are just a server supplier for now, if you can navigate the twisty passages of the Dell website to find some more examples of nakedness then please comment below.
When buying a naked computer or even a Free DOS or Linux one you need to stop before purchasing it and configure an identical computer with Windows on it and compare the prices.
I have bought two Dells recently and both were over $100.00 cheaper if I took them with Windows loaded over the other options.
Sure it sends the wrong message but $100.00 plus to reformat a hard drive and do a Linux install is easy money.
That is massively the wrong message and very damaging. Too many people do that which means that you are propping up a monopolistic anti-competitive practice, both financially and in terms of sales figures. Dell are really not a great place to buy a computer as described in this disgraceful story.