Re: Truth and fiction
Years ago according to Microsoft selling a blank PC was illegal. There were probably threats to distributors who thought of doing so. The result was PCs with FreeDOS pre-installed. They cost extra because of the lack of crapware available for FreeDOS but there was enough software to confirm the computer could boot up, display something and respond to the keyboard. It was all you needed before wiping the disk and installing whatever you wanted.
To be fair to Microsoft there was a licensing issue. Buying a complete Windows license was hard work. Although you could install Windows on a FreeDOS PC the license would be invalid because what you had almost certainly bought was an upgrade to the copy of Windows that was assumed to be bundled with the PC.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
