Choosing no operating system from a custom laptop builder

Is this frowned upon by the builder and does it hamper any stability testing and burn in? Because I have gobs of licenses already...

 

It completely depends on the builder, but every system should be tested before it's shipped anyway (in an ideal world) so that really shouldn't affect the production and quality stage. You'd have to check with individual companies though as they may do things differently. For example, our process is as follows:

- with Windows, image is burned, testing and stability etc are carried out both in Windows environment and outside Win environment. Once complete, we exit audit mode and Windows is returned to the state it would be as if never turned on - so you see the language and setup options as per normal.
- we offer Windows install without a license, this is the same process as above
- no OS option goes through the same testing as above, but of course the systems are shipped with blank SSD/HDDs

We ship a memory stick with each alptop and PC which includes all the most up to date drivers for that device, also they're available through our website as an additional backup.

As above, I would expect most other companies to follow a similar process as we do, but I can't speak for all of them of course - best to tag the resellers on the forum that you are considering to purchase from or contact them directly.

 

Typically if that option is offered testing was already done in house with an operating system loaded and then it's removed. There's no problem shipping systems this way for the most part.

 

Ask the seller if you can provide them the key, unless you dont want to send a windows key over an email(I understand).

 

No reason for you to know this, but technically this isn't allowed by MS. That's why we can install with a key or no key, but we can't use other people's keys.

 

Most Sager/Clevo resellers give you the option to purchase a system with no OS.

 

Oh, didn't know that in fact.

 

Just ask for a Windows install with no key, this will allow you to punch in your own key and activate easily. I upgraded my 1710's Home Edition to Pro retail this way.

 

Omitting an OS might complicate the builder's ability to properly support software issues, but it shouldn't affect their assembly/production's testing (ideally, anyway, like XMG said). Do check in with resellers you're considering before pulling the trigger.

 

Thanks for all the replies!

 

It's a good question to ask the reseller, use their response to help judge if you trust them for support.

 

The correct answer is go with reseller that offers either no operating system or Linux install.

I don't use windows on any home systems. I only use that trash at workplace.

 

Kind of an old thread to bring up, and he didn't ask about Linux, but given that you brought it up...

If someone wanted to run Linux on a laptop, I'd recommend buying from a laptop vendor configuring Linux for laptops and selling them supported on Linux.

Ordering without an OS from a Windows only laptop vendor doesn't assure that the components in the laptop will actually run under the Linux version I want to run, and even with lots of pre-purchase research, you always miss something

It's better to invest in and support a seller of Linux Laptops than to pay someone a little less for an unsupported configuration laptop.

Considering I've been doing this for many years, there are lots of details to consider when supporting hardware on UNIX / Linux that don't come up with a Windows vendor, and it's not fair to saddle them with trying to help you run Linux on a laptop they've sold you.

Companies have support groups to create OS images for Linux / Solaris / UNIX / Windows / etc dedicated to order and configure laptops, desktops, servers with just what is needed and supportable under the required OS.

With the Linux / Solaris / etc non-Windows OS's we have the ability to backport new drivers from source code to older OS's source code and validate functionality with regression testing for the software products the company sells along with partner companies - and internal software used.

That source code level support is what you may need in finding a laptop + drivers needed for the OS revision you need to run.

Supporting Linux / non-Windows OS laptop vendors with business to do that source code work for driver support on the OS's they offer is crucial for many. It's worth the extra $ too.

 

Of course that is preferable to choose a company like System76 or Purism. Clevo systems however are known to be very reliable and Linux accomodating so I wouldn't even hesitate to purchase knowing that it was Clevo made.

I find that lately most anything hardware I throw at Linux tends to run without much problems. Usually issues can be mitigated or workarounds found with Archlinux Wiki and the forums.

The biggest problems with compatibility are particular hardware like Bluetooth, wireless and BIOS firmware per resellers. So, knowing ahead of time what your hardware purchase will be and researching to ensure driver compatibility will usually do the task. Other times, certain kernel commands have to be used in order for ACPI to function or NVME support to work within.

If people are willing to take some time to learn and fiddle it's well worth it. It's all about the fun of using open source distributions.

 

To improve adoption of Linux by non-technical people the Linux Vendors are the places to find and recommend, and for me that's most people I am asked for recommendations.

And, yes they work pretty well except for the specific parts that don't work, and ethernet, bluetooth, wifi are "typical" parts to fail out the box when installing Linux, but a very big deal for non-technical adopters.

Asking a non-technical person to do simple debugging up through driver source hacking into distro's, quickly becomes far too much for them to do. Enthusiasm is quickly drained off shortly into a typical session; I know I've done this many times.

Given the long list of things to try and steps to run, even if precisely correct, independent success is low and directly related to their own Linux experience.

Linux laptop vendors are the way to go, even for people with the experience to get it done themselves, the time savings can be enough to be a load off one's busy work schedule, and well worth a premium in the purchase.

I don't take on such recovery from poor choices any more myself, as it's a consistently costly time consuming process that has few benefits unless I am building up a stable of Linux optimized laptops for support at large client installations, and therefore it's my job to do so.

People forget us Linux guys have lives too, and we prefer spending our free time doing what we need to do, instead of spending hours to save them a few bucks buying some random Linux incompatible laptop from a non-Linux supporting laptop vendor.

These days I warn them that they need to resolve any Linux incompatibilities themselves, or buy from a Linux laptop vendor that will support them on their new laptop.