So I got another computer building job, and instead of being a miserable sucker about it, I’m actually charging for labour. I’m getting good at this little side-business, and I’m quite enjoying myself.
It’s a sweet racket really; by combining low-end hardware and a microATX form factor, you can get away with building really attractive budget machines that don’t cost the world. When you consider what the average computer user actually does with their machine, it becomes painfully apparent you don’t need to splash out thousands of dollars on a desktop PC from one of the big names. As long as it can uplink to the cloud, 640k ought to be enough for anyone.
The only real problem I’ve come across so far is the Microsoft tax. Windows XP’s retiring shortly, and Vista is woefully inadequate for most situations, so I’m kind of at a loss as to what to do. I’ve been sneaking a 15 gig Ubuntu Linux partition alongside Windows with the machines I’ve been building so far, and it’s been a hit. When badware invariably hoses the Windows install, it’s great as an emergency solution.
The actual Windows XP licensing is really frustrating though. OEM suppliers need proof that their OEM software is being sold with a new system, which means you’ve got to pay your tax in the same place you’re actually buying all your bits. My main gripe is that the store I’m buying my bits from sells XP for about fifty bucks more than the other store, whereas the other store is more expensive in general. So I’ve got to either fork out the extra for the convenience, or extra time and money to trek to the other store where I’ve got to buy a motherboard or something to provide “proof”. Microsoft really need to get their act together and just offer serials from their site — Shareware Windows sounds like a hit.
I’d ideally like to move everyone I can over to Ubuntu anyway, because I’ll invariablyend up having to support these machines as well. Ubuntu has the subtle benefit of not breaking unless provoked, whereas Windows needs constant tuning. I *could* lock it down properly, but that’s venturing into far too much effort territory.
I’ll have to play the situation by ear in any case. For now it seems easier to keep it a Windows world, even this brings no additional value as such.
So let me know if you or someone you know wants a shit hot new PC. I’m using the slim Aopen h360b cases as pictured, which are surprisingly small, and really pretty on a desk.
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5 Comments
Owen
April 27, 2009 8:20
Unless you really don’t have the time to spare, I would seriously recommend you just put Ubuntu only. In the first few weeks, people will be asking you a lot of questions. But after that, they won’t ask any.
Over the years I’ve supported all my family members, immediate and extended, with their computer systems. When everyone used Windows, I’d have to rebuild a box every year or so simply because it was being made useless by a virus, spyware, malware or combination thereof. This was with anti- virus, spyware, malware applications installed.
I started putting Ubuntu 6.06 on all these systems. Back then the setup was a little more involved (manually installing Flash for example) but it still took roughly the same amount of time as an XP install.
The initial barrage of questions was expected, so I did a little bit of reading up on how normal people use their computers, and I was able to answer everything thrown at me. After the first few weeks, all the questions went away. There was no more, “I’ve got this wierd screen coming up” or “the computer says I have to put in my credit card details” — there was no more problems of this nature. Ever.
Of course, back then especially, and even to this day, you have to be careful with this scenario. You will inevitably run into someone who has a bunch of random peripherals which may or may not be supported (winmodems, shitty printers, webcams, obscure tablets come to mind). And you also have to advise them to buy “Linux friendly” hardware in future (Brother or HP for printers), but aside from these small caveats, Ubuntu these days is more than good enough for a desktop user.
It’s better than Vista, that’s for sure.
Ash
April 27, 2009 16:16
Apparently buying a motherboard isn’t grounds for getting an OEM version of Windows, so I’m going to have to come up with the extra $40 to cover the difference. That’s a pain in the arse.
Tate
April 28, 2009 12:22
I’m tired of supporting other people’s computer systems. I tell them to buy a Mac, or I won’t support it. They buy a Mac, it doesn’t need supporting. Win-win.
Ashley, you should really get out while you still can. No one wants to fix PC’s all day.
Ash
April 28, 2009 13:58
Thanks for the troll, Tatey. I’m surprised by the amount of Win in your “buy a mac” sentence though, do you run it with Boot Camp?
Owen
April 28, 2009 15:10
“When all you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail.” I think this defines Tate’s incessant need to recommend OS X to solve every computer related problem.