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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[–] sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works 6 points 19 hours ago (1 children)

Yeah, they only gave me like $50 or so off when I told them I didn't want the Windows license. Granted, it shipped w/ Linux, so they likely still paid for the license, but still.

[–] Buffalox@lemmy.world 7 points 18 hours ago* (last edited 18 hours ago) (1 children)

We had a campaign here several years ago, and $50 was the accepted rate most places.
I don't think you can legally demand it anymore, but you used to be able to demand that windows was removed, and you were compensated for the price of the license.
Here in EU what made that possible was AFAIK regulation about anti competitive practices.

Problem is it's never Microsoft that pays, it's always the vendor or retailer.

[–] sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works 3 points 18 hours ago

Exactly. And my understanding is that they pay something close to the retail rate, whereas they get a discounted rate from Microsoft, so they're getting shafted multiple ways.