this post was submitted on 02 Feb 2026
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Please, i never once paid for windows either.
You paid the markup when buying hardware with OEM license though.
Not if I've never bought a prebuilt PC.
Not even a laptop?
You only need laptops if you actually leave your home.
Probably depends on the store, but the 2 times I bought a laptop in my life, both stores had a No OS option in the drop-down, which brought the price down. (One actually came with no OS, the other came with FreeDOS IIRC for some reason)
system76 let's go
Nope. Never bothered with a laptop until work provided me with one.
I owned only MacBooks and not pre-built PCs, so itβs the same for me. Never bought a single Windows license, even the OEM one.
Never bought a Windows license⦠But happily paid the Apple Tax.
Theyβre the same picture.
I paid my sins, father! Now all my MacBooks are on Linux! All of them!
Cant say for them, but I've never owned a laptop until about 6 months ago, and thats used enterprise hardware off ebay.
What did you get? Iβm interested but not really sure what to look for in that niche
HP zbook 17 G6. Big, thiccc, can take a 2.5 inch drive AND a slim disk drive (but it might be hard to find the front/bezel piece to use one properly), and 2/3 m.2 slots.
No soldered ram BS, and I've got an 8c/16t xeon. I spent about $300. G6 and G5 only difference is the processor IIRC
Yep, and not a small price at that. While the home license is not as expensive, it's still mid two digits. IIRC pro version typically costs around 100 β¬ even as the bundled OEM license, especially if you're buying a laptop from a smaller manufacturer. That's the amount I remember the price going down if you drop windows licensing from a corporate laptop lease.
In any way it's not an insignificant price.
The OEM license price is also based on the performance of the PC (specifically the CPU iirc). Low powered devices might get a OEM home license for only $30, but a OEM home license for a gaming PC is going to be more like $80-90. Pro licenses will be more of course.
Makes sense, there wouldn't be many 200-300 β¬ laptops if Windows cost 80-100 β¬ for them.
At least nowadays it's so much easier to find FreeDOS laptops. I remember that it was not a thing here 20 years ago, and Windows was included in the warranty so you couldn't remove it for at least 2 years (if you care about warranty).
You're forgetting piracy. I didn't buy any parts with OEM licenses. Granted I went grey market for my Windows 10 so I paid someone like $20.
doesnt microsoft offer the OS for free?
Nah, not for me. I have only built my own PC's since 2006. If i had a laptop (and a few surfaces) it was through work.
I know all about the OEM license thats now hardcoded on the board due to my job. Our company was buying devices with windows, essentially paying more per device, then imaging them with our image with an enterprise license...
Aye, I did buy a prebuilt once in 2004.
Damn, Microslop's got you by the balls.
I paid for a ticket to the Windows 7 launch event back in the days. Cost a few euros, in return I got a day of talks, networking, a laptop bag full of sweets and a retail copy of Windows 7 Ultimate. The serial also worked for Windows 10 and 11, so I'd say that was a pretty sweet deal. I honestly cannot say if that technically counts as having paid for Windows though.
Well, Microsoft didn't offer it to you freely....
I did and it was every bit as degrading as you might imagine.
Hey now, most of us didn't imagine that we were funding Bill Gates to go get an STI from Russian children. That adds a layer.
Just imagine the stuff with the lid still on...
All I knows is that FOSS folks are too poor and on the spectrum to get wrapped up in this kind of shit.
I'm not touching that one with a 9 foot pole.
... Is what many Russian kids wished they could have said.
wow. dark. I mean, it's lemmy and everything but wow.
I've been thinking about it for a couple days. Buying MS Office indirectly contributed to it. I've done it, many have.
Makes me feel great about being on Linux now, though.
Eh, whatever floats your boat, I say, no kink shaming
It didn't float my boat.
Same... Multiple times.
I paid once for a full license for Windows 98, not an OEM one that comes with a computer. They then gave free upgrades indefinitely since technically it was always the same computer, so I only needed one copy. Simplified it by avoiding a lot of the pirating crack issues and risks. Every other computer than that desktop has always had Linux, and now it does too since I dont really do much gaming anymore.
Tbh now gaming just works on Linux. I primarily game and I see no reason to ever go back.