HP and Dell flogging Surface Pro direct? No issues THERE. NONE AT ALL

HP and Dell – cunningly assisted by Microsoft – have hatched a brilliant plan in which they will compete against their own products, not to mention the channel types who sell them, by flogging Redmond's Surface Pro 3 direct. At the worldwide partner knees up in June, Microsoft confirmed it was opening the gates to allow …

[Anonymous Coward]

Brilliant idea

The more Dell, HP, Accenture and Avanade are tied up with this nonsense, the less opportunity they'll have of causing costly mayhem elsewhere. Can we get CSC involved too?

[James 51]

I dont' think it is an own goal any more than Blackberry supporting Android and Apple handsets in their server software is. It's recognising that people might have their sights set on something and it's better to get a smaller slice of the pie than none at all when that is the case.

[Khaptain]

Nutty Nadella

"We want to move people from needing, to choosing, to loving Windows and so do our partners,” said Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella"

He does realise that Microsft sells operating systems and not girlfriends or children ?

"Loving" an operating system just sounds weird.

[Richard Wharram]

Re: Nutty Nadella

FleshlightOS?

[Uncle Slacky]

Re: Nutty Nadella

Apple beat them to it: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/01/26/ipad_fleshlight_design/

[Pascal Monett]

Only too right

"loving Windows" ?

Not gonna happen.

You can eventually particularly appreciate one or more programs that you use regularly on any platform, to the extent of qualifying your appreciation with the adjective of love, but to extend that to the OS - whatever it is, makes no sense.

You can love your car, but you're not going to say you love the road infrastructure.

[MGJ]

Re: Only too right

I think you need to go watch the film 'Her' . Loving an OS is the plot.

[Pascal Monett]

Re: you need to go watch the film 'Her'

Thanks for the heads-up. I will avoid that like the plague.

And I thought Hollywood was only scraping the bottom of the barrel. It's clear that they've started digging. Oh, but it's with Scarlette Johanssen and it's rated R ? A success, then.

[Fungus Bob]

Re: Only too right

<"loving Windows" ?>

In Windows 69 Cortana is naked...

[John Brown (no body)]

Re: Nutty Nadella

"move people from needing, to choosing, to loving Windows"

"Loving" an operating system just sounds weird.

True. Likewise, if you need WIndows, then it's not really a choice either. Marketdroids. Sheesh, they don't even speak the same language, never mind the ones humans use.

[David Austin]

Surfaces:

Really nice kit.. Horrible, horrible ecosystem.

To get a warranty sorted on a batch back in December took three weeks of back and forth with Microsoft, the reseller partner, and the channel partner. And when we came to use said warranty last week, it took Microsoft 2 hours of back and forth to figure out what kind of warranty we had and how to deal with it.

It's probably a bad deal for Dell, but from my chair here, Microsoft Surface Pro with a Dell ProSupport warranty sounds like sweet bliss that will get a bunch of users off my back.

[M. B.]

Re: Surfaces:

Agree. Our CEO had one and loved it, but yelled at us when it broke after a vacation because it took our guys a full day to even figure out what was and was not covered by the warranty. Turns out he had bought some extra protection which went to someone else, and they sent us a replacement via expedited post - still two extra days to get the big cheese back up and running.

Had it been a Dell or HP device with top support, that would have been fixed by the end of the day (at least the Dell and HP guys around here are alright with hitting their SLAs).

[Howard Hanek]

What If?

I knows this sounds crazy...and it could never happen in a million years....but what if, hypothetically of course, Microsoft was extorting Dell and HP to flog their over priced, proprietary, fondleslab?

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: What If?

No way, Microsoft would not stoop that low. Oh, what is it you say ? They did it before ? Who would have thought it, Microsoft seemed such an honest corporation to me!

[Smoking Gun]

Simples

Isn't this an admittance from HP and Dell that their products are sub-standard and they just cannot get it right. I always had the opinion ever since Microsoft launched the Surface (ignoring the Arm devices) that this was a case of Microsoft telling the market how it should be done and what they need to aspire too. Then they'd sell the division to the highest bidder once their partners had cracked it. Never did I think the likes of HP and Dell would resell it. I bet the ADR's are delighted.

[Morten Bjoernsvik]

margins

This is all about margins.

M$ is willing to use a bit of their $90billion coffin to ensure Dell HP earn more per Surface they sell compared to manufacturing and selling their own stuff.

Nothing to do with quality just a new way to spend money to get a foothold in the market.