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270

Don't RECOMMEND an OS, OFFER and EVALUATE

270 points posted to Operating Systems, Sales Strategies by phubert 10/24/07

read the entire box, it's NOT as simple as the suggestion TITLE

Rather than RECOMMENDING, say, Microsoft Vista, Dell could

OFFER a list of operating systems

LIST and EVALUATE alternatives that Dell does and does not offer.

IF Dell must 'recommend' (for whatever reason), the recommendation could be a LINK to:

"Choosing an Operating System"

Which would THEN explain both the value of the recommendation AND cite alternatives and references.

Yes, this would take some effort, but would
(a) show Dell is more open
(b) provide more information than any other vendor now does
(c) PLEASE more customers and potential customers
(d) possibly reduce later complaints???

phubert
10/24/07		 Dell can be DIFFERENT from ALL its competitors -and- far BETTER.

Set the bar MUCH higher, Dell, and gain customer RESPECT!
nil0lab
10/24/07		 Indeed. Parroting Microsoft-deal "recommendations" just makes Dell look like a toady.

Real recommendations with some meat behind them would make Dell stand out.

Instead of a PC-clone vendor, Dell becomes a valued partner, a company on the Cluetrain.
cosh
10/24/07		 I do wish they'd change it to say "Dell recommends Windows" instead of "Dell recommends Windows Vista", considering that they still offer Windows XP (albeit on a very miserly selection of models), and especially considering that Dell have been delaying deploying Vista internally, have warned customers of upgrade challenges, and serious buyers are avoiding it like the plague. Then there's James Allchin, former member of Microsoft's Senior Leadership team and co-President of the Platform & Services division, who resigned from Microsoft the day Vista shipped and accused them of having lost touch with customers, saying Vista was a pig.

(See also: jmxz's idea: Stop lying.)

The advantage to Dell of not recommending a particular version of Windows is that they won't upset, provoke, or drive away people who (for whatever reason) prefer or need one or the other.

Perhaps on the Linux-specific pages, they can change it to "For Linux, Dell recommends Ubuntu 7.10", instead of having that "Dell recommends Windows Vista" stuck there looking silly
phubert
10/25/07		 Dell may have an agreement with this or that company (without naming names, they have agreements, I'm sure, with MANY companies), and such would obligate them to abide by the terms of individual agreements. I
winoffice
10/25/07		 This is (at least partially?) a duplicate of this idea -- the URL is http://www.ideastorm.com/article/show/68517/Should_Dell_recommend_five_operat...

cosh, if you want Dell to recommend Ubuntu for Linux, then see the idea mentioned above and promote it if you have not done so already.
phubert
10/25/07		 Of course, I'm recommending an entirely different approach to the matter.
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