[ale] A reason NOT to remove Windows from a laptop

[Lightner, Jeff]

Several years ago when Dell first "supported" RHEL on their servers I
was incensed because their "support" obviously knew nothing about Linux
and always suggested I boot into Windows to fix issues.  They even once
sent me a Linux BIN file to install and when I had issues with it rather
than troubleshooting it again suggested doing the update using Windows.
My comments to them were enough apparently to get them to simply refuse
to answer the phone.   I actually figured out the error in their BIN and
fixed it and ran it myself.

Nowadays though, they actually have a Linux Enterprise team that is
familiar with Linux and can actually talk to you reasonably about your
hardware issues without having to suggest installing Windows to fix
them.   I have no problem running RHEL on Dell PowerEdge.

A couple of years ago they announced support of Ubuntu on their laptops
but I don't recall the details of that support.   You may need to ask
for the Linux team but I don't know.



-----Original Message-----
From: ale-bounces at ale.org [mailto:ale-bounces at ale.org] On Behalf Of
Geoffrey Myers
Sent: Monday, January 10, 2011 8:38 AM
To: Atlanta Linux Enthusiasts
Subject: Re: [ale] A reason NOT to remove Windows from a laptop

Brian Pitts wrote:
> On 01/07/2011 02:12 PM, Ron Frazier wrote:
>> Hi all.  I have a Dell laptop which I dual boot between Windows and
>> Ubuntu.  I do about 95% of my activities in Ubuntu, but have a few
that
>> require Windows.  I also support some family and friends which use
>> Windows.
>>
>> FYI, I just discovered another reason to leave Windows on there.  I
>> decided to update the BIOS on the machine to the latest version.  I
>> discovered that the BIOS flash update program from the Dell website
is
>> designed to run under Windows.  So, it's a good thing I hadn't erased
>> Windows or I couldn't update the BIOS.
> 
> Here are my notes from work on the different approaches for updating
> Dell BIOSes. I am not certain how many of them are relevant for
laptops
> instead of servers.

Here are my notes for updating Dell bios:

Don't by Dell. :)

-- 
Until later, Geoffrey

"I predict future happiness for America if they can prevent
the government from wasting the labors of the people under
the pretense of taking care of them."
- Thomas Jefferson
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