Comment 918 for bug 1

Completely true. Here in northern New Jersey, USA, I couldn't find a computer with Ubuntu. I couldn't find one with any Linux distribution. I couldn't find one with a blank hard drive. I couldn't even find one without Windows XP - they all have Vista. The incredible thing about Microsoft is that they're getting away with forcing Vista down their customers' throats (those guys who created New Coke are laughing at Microsoft for making stupid business mistakes - at least they got rid of New Coke quickly). They're also getting away with charging $500 for Microsoft Office 2008, which mostly has programs most people won't need (most people will only use Word, and occasionally Excel and PowerPoint).

Microsoft's incredible mistake is abusing their customers' requirement to buy their products. Microsoft has scared people into sticking with them forever, and has tried to shoot down every competitor they've ever had, and they've succeeded every time (except with Apple, which is starting to do well because of Microsoft's screw-ups). And if you read the Halloween Documents (Microsoft's secret memos about taking down open-source software, which were leaked by an unknown source to Erik S. Raymond - Google it, they're very interesting), you'll see what an evil corporation Microsoft is. Before I'd read it, Microsoft seemed like nothing more than an evil company, but after reading these, I suddenly understood how big and powerful Microsoft is.

Microsoft has even scared the computer manufacturers into staying with them. Dell is the only company that offers any other operating system, which is Ubuntu. Everyone else is scared about what Microsoft will do to them.

All in all, it seems as though the only company that makes computers for profit and doesn't screw up at it is Apple, which uses the open-source Darwin operating system they created as the base of OS X. Apple is also very willing to let others use Linux on their computers, and puts no restrictions on it.

It's impossible to find a computer without Vista on it around here. I've looked everywhere, and it's just not here. Not one with Ubuntu, or even a choice of Ubuntu, or even a choice of buying a computer and not having to pay for Vista. If I buy a computer, I should have the option of purchasing a machine without Windows on it.

If Microsoft does try to continue shoving software people don't want down their throats and charging them lots of money for it, they will lose to open-source software. I already know lots of people who have switched to Firefox and OpenOffice.org instead of Internet Explorer and Microsoft Office. They are going to lose, and this bug will be fixed. Maybe not soon, but eventually