If you are looking to buy one of the mid-range laptops, you may have noticed that some laptop manufacturers, especially Dell and Lenovo, offer you a choice in operating systems for the same hardware configuration.  The two machines carry identical hardware but one model is loaded with genuine Windows 7 while the other is on Free DOS. Some laptops may have Ubuntu Linux in place of Free DOS.

Why Windows Users go for FreeDOS / Linux Laptops?

The DOS / Linux based laptops are obviously less expensive than their Windows 7 counterparts as the vendor need not pay any Windows licensing fee to Microsoft and some of that price benefit is passed on to the consumer.

The important question is that if you are a Windows user and want a laptop with Windows 7, why would you even consider one that has Linux or Free DOS even if it is cheaper?

I was talking to a laptop dealer and he offered a very convincing reason. He said that most people who opt for Free DOS / Linux based laptops, purchase a retail (licensed) copy of Windows 7 DVD separately and then they overwrite the DOS with Windows 7.

Isn’t that tedious? People take this route because, unlike the OEM copy of Windows which is tied to one particular computer, they have an option to transfer the retail Windows license to any another computer later should they decide to sell /donate their old laptop. Piracy could be the other big reason why people may be opting for these non-Windows machines.

Also see: How to Rebuild a Windows Computer