They always refused to reimburse the cost of Windows licences before this even if it was illegal in the country you lived in. I'm very surprised.
this post was submitted on 16 Apr 2025
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Fedora is better than Ubuntu?
I'm sure there are opinions both ways. I think the reason Fedora is the headline is because it is the more recent addition. Lenovo has had an Ubuntu option on some machines for a few years now. Fedora is a fairly recent addition.
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It’s -$140 in my area. Additionally, the 2 other models I picked first didn’t have that option at all.
$211?!
Surely that can't be US dollars, that'd be wild. The 24-hour clock also has me thinking this isn't the US.
Looking at the UK site, I'd 100% go for "No Operating System", then install Fedora Workstation anyway.
It's removing 211 dollars from the price
Oh thank you. I didn't see the tiny -.
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That's why I bought my last two laptops from Dell.. In my country they offer a Linux version of their machines.
Let's see who considers the Linux options when they see they can get the same machine for 200 bucks cheaper. I hope other brands start considering doing this too.
It's more probable people buying cheaper and then installing Windows afterwards - a lot more probable than starting their tech life from scratch.
People who are tech savy maybe. Most consumers have no clue how to install windows (or any OS) with an iso though.
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Sure, and they'll be pirating it, a net benefit if it reduces Microsoft's monopoly.
Yep, get ISO from Microsoft's website (don't even need to sail for that part) then activate it using a super easy to find tool...
Iex(iwr get.activated.win)
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Not only that. The software is so much better.
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This should be standard in stores. If people could save that much, they wouldn’t choose Windows haha
Which is why it's never going to happen. Old people like me will remember the first EEE PC from Asus, the original netbook. Netbooks were small cheap laptops that were popular before smartphones were around. It ran Linux and it worked pretty well. Then Microsoft came out with a special version of Windows XP which could run on netbooks and they gave it away for free, just to prevent Linux from getting popular on consumer devices. So they're going to pull something like that again. And Lenovo know this, of course. This is likely just a negotiating tactic to get concessions from MS on licensing fees.
Think you hit the nail on the head. God I hate how capitalism was applied during the induction of computers and the Internet. It ruined so much trying to force "scarcity" driven supply/demand on a technology that fundamentally removed the supply problem. At least in terms of software.
Software never should have been allowed to be restricted by past limitations only to ensure profits could be made.
But we force it on it. Only for the benefits of companies that serve to prevent innovation more than they produce it.
One category "no OS", with also at least 211€ off, would be great. Don't need nothing on my device when I install Arch from scratch anyway. Or nc -lp 42069 > /dev/main/root and cat /dev/sda3 | nc 192.168.178.x -p 42069, recreate /dev/main/swap and reinstall /dev/main/boot. Or just nc -lp 42069 > /dev/nvme0n1 and cat /dev/nvme0n1 | nf 192.168.178.x -p 42069
As available in France, tho only for €60 less.
And you pay €30 for fedora (?)
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I'm pretty sure they've been doing that for a long time. The other more business focused OEMs too.
Indeed but it's rarely available to the general public. They don't mind selling 2000 units to a business with dedicated IT support. They (used to) totally draw the line at providing individual support to individual customers.
In my experience (France), buy it while you can because it pops from time to time & disappears without warning.
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Where?
Woah! Never seen this in France, ever. You can even get it os-free!
The difference in pricing is concerning tho.
Wait, "operating system" in French is "système d'exploitation"? That's particularly funny next to Windows 11 offers.
“Système d’exploitation” feels like an apt description of Windows 11 😆
How much for a society without an exploitation system?
Priceless, but out of stock.
I thought they'd done this for years (on certain Thinkpads anyway)? Still I'd rather install my own than trust Lenovo to install it for me.
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Oh nice, and down $200? Yes please
They'd have to discount at least twice that amount for me to get the Ubuntu install, though.
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200 off is incredible
It's 60€ in my region.
The German store doesn't offer Fedora, but also gives 60 Euro off if you order no OS. I tried X1 Gen 10 and 13.
Wait, I had to do a double take. I thought they were charging $200 extra for Fedora and Ubuntu. They could consider sending some money to those distros for development which would still be cheaper than buying windows.
Aint no way people pay 211$ for that adware, spyware piece of shit operating system. Thats wild.
When https://massgrave.dev/ exists it's even worse.
I think this tax on tech illiterate people is getting too high.
Should I start selling USB drives for $5? I don't wanna encourage Windows. But I feel bad for the normies. $211 is insane.
MS literally allows massgrav on GitHub. They have for years. They do not give a fuck.
Paying for windows at this point is a normie tax. And it's gotten too damn high!
Some time ago i checked some polish stores to compare W11 vs Linux / no OS prices and i found out that the difference isn't flat and it's actually about ~10% of product price (so the more expensive the notebook is - the higher the price of W11 is)
That's absolutely fucked.
When I was getting my PC they tried to upsell me for a 250€ windows license even if I insisted I didn't need one x3
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Can't wait to see how they manage to fill fedora with bloatware too
You'd still be able to just reinstall Linux, and save money in the process. And simply having the option available will probably help get Linux to some users that aren't overly tech savvy