Don't charge up to $50 more to downgrade from Vista to XP

Operating Systems - Multiboot, Desktops and Laptops submitted by jervis961 Jun 17

Dell is going to start charging customers up to $50 to downgrade thier systems operating system from Vista to XP after Wednesday. While some people see XP as an upgrade, I don't think there should be a charge for it. 17 Comments »

Support Windows XP By Posting Drivers for PCs with Vista

Operating Systems - Multiboot submitted by gear Apr 15

Now that the decision has been made by Microsoft to keep XP Home and other editions on the market at least until 2010, it is time to do more to add value to Dell's product and take advantage of your build to order model.

Recently, it is noted that:

a) the Inspiron 1520 has been brought back with XP for the home market.

This need to be greatly expanded with XP available pre-installed on every PC sold by Dell. The build to order model is indifferent to it.

b) Retail machines sold at Best Buy, etc. need to come with XP and not just Vista.

Want to be real brilliant? Find a way with Microsoft so that customer can choose whether they want Vista or XP installed when they first boot up a new machine. Make the choice revocable so that a customer can always change their mind later if they made the wrong decision.

c) Dell need to support their customers who had the misfortune to have bought Vista based machines before the full extent of the Vista disaster (few drivers that work properly, etc.) were known.

There are many people out there who have machines that were bought that cannot do what it was intended to do because of the failings of Vista.

Specifically, Dell need to make available "unofficially" or officially, XP drivers for all machines that are shipped with Vista to date.

While Dell can elect not to support these machine's software if they are reinstalled with Windows XP, providing the drivers is a must.

What Dell can do is to make clear what devices will work, what wouldn't work if XP were installed on it, and how much functionality a user converting a Vista machine to XP can expect.

If Dell is real clever, they would offer to these loyal customers the option of either downloading the drivers from the website, or alternatively, having the drivers / application programs disks mailed to them for a nominal cost.

Want to be real smart? Sell a retrofit kit including a copy of Windows XP (Upgrade edition) so users can easily upgrade their Vista machines to Windows XP.

-------------------

FYI, I bought an Inspiron 1525 at retail and converted it to XP myself.

The problem was difficult if you wanted to use AHCI rather than ATA compatibility mode. (Had to create my own boot disk from the XP disks).

I got it working, but had to hunt for drivers from the Inspiron 1520 (not all of them work properly), the Latitute D820 (some work), and then, some of the Inspiron 1525 drivers work with both Vista and XP.

As it stands, your competitors Fujitsu and Sony are both shipping XP installation disks and drivers with every Vista Business machine shipped.

Give customers a reason to choose build to order by offering something that is simply not available from your competitors HP, etc. 11 Comments »

Dell multi booter software

Operating Systems - Multiboot, Software submitted by pro2ghz Apr 1

Create your own Dell multi booter software.

OK, maybe im not clear.

Dell, should make this multi OS booter software, which in the beginning, when you open ur computer the software window( of the multibooter software comes up) and asks you which OS you want to use.

make it simple, straght to the point yet as John Maeda points out complex to do many thing yet simple and slick.

comment if im not clear.

and yes I know these software are already out there BUT let DELL make which I hope will be easy to use and already preloaded. 6 Comments »

Allow for any Linux Flavor + Windows Multi boot system

Operating Systems - Multiboot submitted by kutsa Feb 14

Their should be an option to have multi-boot system. Within the selector you should be able to select multiple Operating systems and the partitions required. This way someone, for example, could select WinXP and Ubuntu and SUSE. 5 Comments »

Easy Dual Boot Option

Operating Systems - Multiboot submitted by brheitner Feb 14

IF Dell cannot have pre-configured Dual Boot Systems sold with both Ubuntu/Vista.

Can Dell include a utility to "MAKE IT EASIER" for the most basic of users to optionally install another OS?

EX- A utility that backop the HD, partions the drive, installs the Grub, Lilo or Custom Dell Boot Selector and then allows the user to install the new OS (EX: Dell Vista machine including the utility then the user can easily install Ubuntu without the "Fear" of running an ubuntu Live CD to partition the hard drive and install). 6 Comments »

Choice of XP and Vista on All Dell systems

Operating Systems - Multiboot, Desktops and Laptops submitted by garth_g21 Feb 6

26 Comments »

Warn your customers of impending changes to their systems coming Feb 12.

Operating Systems, Operating Systems - Multiboot submitted by jmxz Jan 21

With little warning, the computers you sold your customers a while ago are about to change significantly on Feb 12.

Microsoft is "warning their business customers of the impending changes" and giving them "guidelines on how to ward off the automatic update".

I would hope you give *both* your Home as well as your Business customers enough respect to warn them of the impending changes and giving them the information they need to prevent these changes if they don't want them. It sounds like the software vendor is only showing such concern to the Business customers - and it's unclear if Microsoft will be making the effort to tell businesses who got their stuff through Dell - or only their direct sales customers. (PS: If it's only their direct sales customers, Dall, I hope you're mad at them for that too - since I'd hate to think I get worse service if I buy it through Dell than if I buy it from the manufacturer directly). 6 Comments »

Hey, Microsoft now lets you run Vista Home Premium under Linux.

Operating Systems - Multiboot submitted by jmxz Jan 21

For people who want both Ubuntu and Vista, it seems that Microsoft's Virtualization Ban has been lifted from some of it's Vista versions.

If you do allow multiboot (and I see there's now an IdeaStorm category for it) -- I hope doing it this newly legal way is one of the ways you'd offer it -- since it's the one I'd be most likely to use.

Also for some of those old IdeaStorm Ideas that formerly requested something that would have violated licenses - I'd like to change my votes from against to for.

Also, if you had any pages that described what you were (supposedly but not really) selling when you "sell" people Vista - you should up date them to include these new terms - because the license change is a pretty meaningful change -- and of course I hope you would give people up-to-date information about the ever changing terms describing what they get when they "buy" an OS from you. 6 Comments »

forum vista FAQ section... add xp & vista duel boot into the list

Dell Community, Operating Systems - Multiboot submitted by jdelidc Jan 19 **IMPLEMENTED**

i've been on there only since storm room started but it's a popular question. "i got vista and want to also have xp on my machine. how do i do it?" add it to the FAQ list


You can now find details about dual boot here on the Vista FAQ page.





9 Comments »

Universal Computer capable of running Linux/OSX/Windows.

Linux, Operating Systems - Multiboot, Desktops and Laptops submitted by okroger104 Jan 18

What about considering the idea of a computer whose hardware is certified to be compatible with the three major operating systems? OSX, LINUX, and Windows.

User can specify which OSs they would like to have preinstalled or none at all. (not sure about OSX, but you can walk into any Apple store and pick up a copy.) But at least the unit would be certified to be fully compatible w/ these OSs.

Each of these OSs can run on Intel's platforms and also with Nvidia's graphics chips. They all utilize wifi, USB and firewire. 5 Comments »

User selects which OS(Linux or Windows) to boot into on all new Dells

Linux, Operating Systems - Multiboot, Desktops and Laptops submitted by shannon_vanwagner 12/14/07

Imagine the headline.."With Dell you get a choice in what OS you can boot into when your computer starts up!" OR "Experience the best of all worlds Windows/Linux with your dual-boot Dell!!"

Dell could be the only company (at least initially) that sells all computers with the capability to select which OS (Linux or Windows) to use after the computer boots up. The computer can be configured to dual-boot Linux or Windows at the factory.

This would give both new users and experienced users the awesome capability to choose which Operating System they want to use every time they boot up their computer!! It's very important that common people get a choice when it comes to which OS they get to use - it's the future of computing!

Technology and Innovation is so important these days and so by offering this feature I think this would help to make Dell the market leader in innovation.

Here's how it might work:
The computer boots up and gives the user a choice with a snazzy, easy to use menu to select whether to enter Windows or to enter Linux (the Linux could eventually even be a few different distros so there would be even more choice!).

The user would then select which OS they want to use for that session, select it and then boot into it. Eventually Dell could then add the functionality for the two operating systems to share(or at least have access to) a part of the filesystem so the user's files could be accessed from whichever OS the user is currently booted into.

There would also be a simple recovery DVD and/or partition that could put the machine back to its original state if the user were to mess anything up.

Think about it, this would give users ULTIMATE POWER and more importantly A CHOICE!!! DELL CAN BREAK THE MONOPOLY AND SET THE NEW STANDARD!

Be INNOVATIVE, Think CHOICE!!

Can't wait to see it!!

DELL ROCKS!

Shannon VanWagner 32 Comments »

Default Harddrive Partitioning

Operating Systems - Multiboot, Laptops submitted by niln 12/12/07

The default partitioning of Dell laptop hard drives makes installing additional operating systems for dual booting very difficult. For instance, XPS M1330 has three primary partitions (one of which is a large Vista partition, another recovery partition, an a third for some other purpose), and an extended one with MediaDirect on a logical partition within it. Even if I shrink the Vista primary partition to free up some space, I cannot add an additional partition because of the 4 primary partition limit (without having to reinstall everything just to keep MediaDirect).

Perhaps the recovery partition should be placed within the extended partition to allow tweakers to create primary partitions for them to play with? 5 Comments »

Create An Idependant Branch Of Dell To Deal With Ubuntu, Free DOS And Bare Systems

Advertising and Marketing, Dell, Linux, Operating Systems - Multiboot, Sales Strategies submitted by aikiwolfie 11/17/07

It has been speculated here on IdeaStorm that the reason Dell won't or can't provide bare systems with no OS pre-installed is due to licensing arrangements with Microsoft. If this is the case Dell should create an independent child company that has no dealings with Microsoft at all. This new company will handle all requests for Ubuntu, Linux, Free DOS and no OS. 26 Comments »

Make the DRAC the OpenManage platform

Operating Systems - Multiboot, Servers and Storage, Software, Simplify IT submitted by kgraham 11/14/07

To summarize several of the IdeaStorm posts on OpenMange -- "OMG, Dell has to support OpenManage on my Xen virtualized BeOS under Ubuntu!!".

Instead, please don't support my pet operating system or anyone else's. Make the DRAC the OpenManage platform of choice.

Presently, a $300 DRAC is little more than a glorified KVM and power interface and acts as a negative incentive for Dell to promote wider adoption of IPMI for basic functionality. To get a rich SNMP MIB and hardware monitoring functionality, the answer today is to install an additional software bundle that runs under the host OS. Very little of current OpenManage functionality actually necessitates a booted OS -- almost all of the information is available via the BMC/SMBus.

Further, failed disks, thermal shutdown, DIMM failure, DMI information, etc are all things that really should be available out-of-band and lights-out. Yes, the DTMF can and (eventually?) will deliver these things, but wrapping it up into a chassis-contained multiprotcol (SNMP/HTTP/Telnet) interface is never going to happen. However, Dell already has the platform and is already dedicating the resources to make it happen, these two simply need to come together.

Walk away from all of the OS support issues with OpenManage -- driver games, packaging, and the grossly inflated cost of the software lifecycle it incurs. You own the DRAC end-to-end without user-imposed complications. Make one of the clearly identifiable "premium", Dell-specific options on the PowerEdge line stand out!

For anyone skeptical of this due to the lack of consistency in the between DRAC generations or concerns with current quality, I'm quite confident that if it were prioritized as Dell's "Premier Enterprise Management Platform" this would change. 8 Comments »

Dell: When you finally offer the No-OS option on all your computers leave out the BloatWare, Thanks!

Operating Systems - Multiboot, Software submitted by jorge 10/26/07

So you don't get it wrong, when you finally offer the highly touted No-OS on all your computers on the Dell.com website and new 3rd party distribution stores and refurbished sites, leave out (don't include) the BloatWare you painstakingly include on your other bloat filled OS's. This included the FreeDOS CD by the way, the DellDiag CD/DVD is a welcomed option though. 8 Comments »

Microsoft now lets Dell n-Series be used for volume licensing.

Dell, Operating Systems, Operating Systems - Multiboot submitted by jmxz 10/03/07

Seems Microsoft has a "new licensing program" for "Fake and Pirated" Windows users

Microsoft expects to support its Windows XP operating system for the foreseeable future, the company on Tuesday introduced a new licensing program designed to let users of fake or pirated copies of the business version of the OS upgrade
...a volume licensing contract that will allow them to replace fake or "mislicensed" copies of Windows XP Professional with legitimate versions.

This is interesting for Dell for a couple reasons.

1. It makes the Dell open source pages a bit misleading where they have large bold paragraphs about " not qualified for Windows licensing use under any existing Microsoft Volume Licensing Program", and "Customers interested in a Microsoft® Windows® solution should purchase a Dell notebook pre-loaded with Windows XP Professional.". Idea:Perhaps Dell should add "or you can be eligible for volume licensing if you install a pirated Windows"
2. If Microsoft's supporting pirated versions, that seems unfair for customers who pay full price for Dell for licensed versions. Idea: Perhaps you should tell Microsoft to stop this program because it's unfair to your paying customers.

PS: IdeaStorm needs a Windows category. I'm misfiling it under Multiboot. 4 Comments »

Offering pre-configured dual-boot installations is important for obtaining proper OS usage statistics

Operating Systems - Multiboot, Sales Strategies submitted by patsoe 09/24/07

If Dell really want to know how important OSS drivers compatibility of their hardware is to their customer base, it will be useful to offer pre-configured dual-boot systems in addition to the single-OS (MS Windows or Ubuntu GNU/Linux) offerings. This way, buyers can express their appreciation for OSS drivers supporting hardware, while still obtaining a Windows license with their purchase.

Alternatively, a special configuration option would be nice, where you can just click a radio-button that says "only display hardware options with OSS drivers" - this option would "grey out" any hardware options that don't provide OSS drivers, and it would give Dell a good picture of the importance of this feature, regardless the OS that the hardware is then sold with. Comment »

Dual Boot, Have the Choice of Ubuntu and Windows

Linux, Operating Systems - Multiboot submitted by daniel117 08/17/07

Why settle for only Windows without Ubuntu and vice versa? Dell should have dual boot on Windows and Ubuntu. Compromising is sometimes good and in this case, its great! 16 Comments »

Windows XP

Operating Systems - Multiboot, Desktops and Laptops submitted by xdz3r0 08/08/07

Add Windows XP as an option for ALL laptops and desktops. Period.

or even better. allow consumer to choose 2 OS's. I know I'd be so much happier knowing I could boot into Windows XP and Vista, seeing as Vista doesnt even have a Service Pack out yet and it's full of bugs. 1 Comment »

Linux duel boot with Windows XP or other OS

Linux, Operating Systems - Multiboot submitted by ramnar 08/04/07

Dell should offer this with the new systems that are Linux friendly. 8 Comments »