As reported on Slashdot, the world’s largest computer maker, Dell, has been undergoing some big changes recently in order to stem negative behavior and tighten their grip as the marketshare leader. One part of this effort has been to ask existing customers and prospective customers what do they want.

So, what do they want?

1. By a two-to-one margin over the next most popular request, clearly outstripping all other requests, is a strong demand for linux computers. Such as Ubuntu, pre-installed. I’m tellin’ y’all: the wheels are in motion and linux is the future.

Yabbit, what’s the number two request, then?

2. Customers want computers to come with OpenOffice.org pre-installed instead of the expensive Microsoft Office suite.

As mentioned in 2005, if you haven’t tried OpenOffice in your place of business or at home, then I’d encourage you to give it a whirl. Don’t worry, it opens MS Office documents from your colleagues and you can even create MS Office documents, if you want.

So, what else are customers asking for?

4. Linux laptops.

5. Computers without Windows.

7. Computers with Firefox as the default web browser instead of Internet Explorer.

Lemme tell ya, if you’re one of those people who still clicks on “the blue e to get the intarwebs” then it’s time for you to wake up. Downloading Firefox is not a time-consuming effort. Come, join the rest of us here in the 21st century.

Fun stuff. Yes, I feel a little like gloating smugly.

Why? Dell has lied for years about “there’s no customer demand for linux products” because they’ve made backroom deals with Microsoft. The way it works is that when you go to buy a Dell computer (the most popular computers in the world), you are given a choice between XP and XP Pro.

That’s it. No “sell me a computer with nothing.” No “sell me a computer with Ubuntu.” They just ignore it, offer you Windows or Windows, and pretend to toe the party line about how everyone loves Microsoft.

But, y’know, things are at a crossroad. Dell has been having some troubles recently and they can foresee that Vista is going to hurt their sales. So, they decided to openly ask their customers and let everyone see the answers.

People are tired of Windows and Office. They want free, open-source solutions.

As I dismount from my high-horse and get back to the normalcy of realizing the world won’t turn upside down overnight, I just wanted to mention one more thing. You hear that rumbling far off in the distance? It’s the clue train and it’s coming your way.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 20th, 2007 at 1:27 pm and is filed under Technology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.