this post was submitted on 25 Apr 2025
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Lenovo Cuts the Windows Tax and offers Cheaper Laptops with Linux Pre-installed (news.itsfoss.com)
submitted 22 hours ago by ForgottenFlux@lemmy.world to c/technology@lemmy.world
24 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

At least in the U.S. and Canada, that is.

This was brought to my attention thanks to a Reddit post where a user (presumably a resident of Canada), had posted how Lenovo was shipping laptops with Fedora and Ubuntu at a cheaper price compared to their Windows-equipped counterparts.

Others then chimed in, saying that Lenovo has been doing this since at least 2020 and that the big price difference shows how ridiculous Windows' pricing is.

When I dug in further, I found out that the US and Canadian websites for Lenovo offered U.S. $140 and CAD $211 off on the same ThinkPad X1 Carbon model when choosing any one of the Linux-based alternatives.

I think these manufacturers could do a better job in marketing these Linux-based alternative operating systems to general consumers, showing them how they can save big when opting for these instead of the pricey and bloated Windows.

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[–] GhostlyPixel@lemmy.world 34 points 19 hours ago (3 children)

Yeah I didn’t believe that amount, looked it up, and it looks like digital W11 Home keys are $139 USD directly from Microsoft.

I’m surprised manufacturers aren’t getting some sort of license discount.

[–] slumberlust@lemmy.world 26 points 17 hours ago

They are, but likely not passing the savings on.

[–] Buffalox@lemmy.world 15 points 19 hours ago* (last edited 19 hours ago)

When Microsoft battled Android to sell their own phones, they demanded a $35 license fee for "Microsoft Patents" on Android!.
AFAIK that was about the same as a Windows OEM license! Just about every Android phone maker folded and agreed to pay!

So IDK Microsoft can be very aggressive in their license pricing. There are also different versions of Windows, and a multi language license is AFAIK more expensive.

Still for me it would be absolutely insane to pay that much, as I would just format it anyway, and install Linux. And with Linux I can use whatever language I want!

[–] IronKrill@lemmy.ca 9 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

If I were to guess, I'd say they may get a discount but Lenovo could be reducing their margin to incentivize people away from Windows so they can stop paying out Windows licenses in the future.

[–] GhostlyPixel@lemmy.world 1 points 14 hours ago

That makes the most sense