I'd quite like to buy a new laptop. The one I have, an Advent 7001, has been quite trusty for the last five or six years, but it's time to upgrade.

One thing that it probably clear to anyone who's read much of this blog is that I'll be running GNU/Linux on the thing, rather than Microsoft Windows. It's quite sensible then, it would seem, to buy a machine without Windows pre-loaded on it. You wouldn't think that it'd be too difficult to do that, would you? Well I didn't...

I'd quite like to get what they call an "ultra mobile notebook" I think. I've become quite envious over recent years, watching people with tiny, stylish little flip-ups sit sipping coffee, checking their email. I quite fancy a piece of that pie. It was this that led me to take a shine to the Samsung Q35, complete with magnetic red lid. Yum.

How naive I was though, to think that one could simply order one without Windows included. That piece of software sells for as much as £260 at PC World. For something I'm not going to use, even with any trade discount they happen to get, this is an expense that I don't want to incur.

So, I emailed Samsung directly yesterday, enquiring about where I might be able to purchase one of their machines without Windows included in the bundle. I was told that "all the units without exception are delivered with Microsoft Windows". Wow, that kind of language makes me think that there's some special deal happening here. I wonder if Microsoft intentionally lock vendors in to exclusive deals in order to prevent the kind of think that happened at Newham Council a couple of years ago.

Samsung's email did also helpfully point out that "it may be possible to make an independent deal with one of [our resellers] but this would be at your own discretion". So, I suppose that this is my next tactic. I think I'll question a few shops.

There are, in fact, a few companies which do supply laptops with Linux pre-installed and no Microsoft software in sight. In the US, System 76 seem to enjoy quite a high profile, though their machines hardly compare to the Samsung one on either design or price. The Linux Emporium, a local company also sell some Windows-less laptops with Linux pre-loaded, but the choice is very limited. I've also emailed them asking for advice on the Samsung machine.

The website linuxcounter.org (which incidentially is a rather weird idea in my opinion) estimates that there are 29 million machines running Linux worldwide. Of course, the majority of these will probably be desktops and servers, which due to their generic nature can be easily bought without Windows, but there's no denying that a large number of people must pay Microsoft for the right to buy a laptop, then just blank the thing. With anti-competitive lock-in deals such as it appears exist at Samsung, Microsoft certainly don't need to worry about revenue. It really is a Microsoft tax on portable computers. Is that kind of anti-competitive tactic even legal?