Wal Mart selling non Windows PCs

SMALL WONDER HP is complaining about the proposed settlement between Microsoft and the Department of Justice (DoJ), as it appears that each machine will cost an additional $4 as a result of the deal.

Bloomberg and Dow Jones both report that Microsoft will be forced to apply uniform pricing for the 20 biggest PC customers, and as a result of the deal both Dell and an HP-Compaq colossus would pay those few dollars more, the wires report.

It might be good news for the 55 per cent Other Corporation which makes the vast majority of PCs that end up being used, however.

The second and third tier players have long resented the preferential deals the big boys have got from Microsoft. These volume prices meant that many smaller manufacturers were better off buying Windows from big retail stores rather than through the regular business channels.

But just to show that there's another way forward, Wal Mart now sells Microtel PCs without Windows installed - for users who want to install their own copy of the Volish OS, or indeed install something completely different, a non-Microsoft operating system.

And you only have to look at the prices of the Wal Mart machines here, to see what a difference in prices the Windows OS makes. µ