Apparently Windows N is not very popular with OEM providers with Dell, HP and others saying there was no incentive to sell them. The problem is two fold, firstly they cost the same as the normal Windows with Media player. The EC should have forced Microsoft to drop the price by $5 dollars for Windows N, to give OEM’s an incentive to sell them. Secondly the EC should have made arrangements for Windows N to be offered with alternative media in an easy fashion. If Realplayer (for example) could be slipstreamed onto an OEM’s install disk, then in conjunction with a small price cut there would be real incentive for OEM’s to actually consider offering it on their systems.
Put another way, say for example you were offered two cars, identical in every way, except one has power windows and the other doesn’t. If the cars are the same price, which one would you pick? To take that a step further, if the car without power windows had after market power windows that worked much the same as the normal ones, would anyone care which one they got?
