No licence

[Eddy B]

I wanted to buy a new computer at the normal full price. When I asked if they had all the installation disc's for the hardware plus Windows operating system they said no. Now back home you walk into any computer shop and wish to purchase a computer it is always ready to rock and roll once you buy it, plus with back-up disc's. Why in Thailand are shops allowed to sell these units at full retail price and they do not have these simple normally items included?? My gripe was with ThaiMart!

[Crossy]

Pretty much any PC you buy here comes without an OS no matter where you get it.

Think of the positives, you can put whatever OS you want on the machine without paying for a superfluous copy of Windows.

[Eddy B]

Pretty much any PC you buy here comes without an OS no matter where you get it.

Think of the positives, you can put whatever OS you want on the machine without paying for a superfluous copy of Windows.

Seriously there is no OS. Only Dos. I would need to either buy a windows package or take it to another shop and pay them to install one for me which I know will not be 100%. I can do this all myself but how can they sell a computer with only a simple Dos program and with no back-up CD's?

[RichCor]

DOS is an OS. Just not the one you want.

It's not mandatory that companies sell computers with pre-installed operating systems, but they usually sell more when they do.

Bundling a pre-installed OS with the PC might make it more convenient for the consumer, but if the OS is Windows then it also raises the price beyond what most Thais are willing to pay. Sure they'll still need an OS, but as there are many Thais that don't respect copyrights or user agreements the local industry finds alternatives in order to make the sale.

Is your complaint about what you believe is a missing pre-installed OS (like buying a grey-market DSL Camera that's missing the Lens Kit and Accessories), or is the complaint about the comparative cost of a Thai PC with no OS vs. the cost of a PC with OS purchased in another country?

[Riggi]

I don't think any pcs/laptops come with a physical disc with the os anymore. Even if it has windows, it will have a recovery partition that you can use to do a clean install of windows.

I've seen many machines with windows bundled, but I've also seen some with just dos - seems to be mainly Dell and Lenovo from what I've noticed.

If it's an actual PC box (as opposed to a laptop) where you get to choose which CPU, mobo, graphics card etc. Then usually you have to specify what os you want (if any).

[ukrules]

DOS ? Are you sure it came with DOS ?

I would have thought the hard drive would have been empty with no OS at all instead of a copy of DOS.

[KhunBENQ]

DOS ? Are you sure it came with DOS ?

I would have thought the hard drive would have been empty with no OS at all instead of a copy of DOS.

Yes,. Or at least with the DOS kernel of Windows 98,

Seen again today at TESCO.

dir /s /p

and you wil see an almost empty harddisk.

I don't care as I know how to setup a fresh OS (still sticking to Win 7, waiting for 9, skipping the big failure 8 )

Edited July 4, 2014 by KhunBENQ

[firefox999uk]

Have you thought about using Linux, its free.

At the moment im running Linux Mint in VM Virtual Box, within Windows 7

carn't fault it....Linux is not like the old days when you had to load programs

by typing commands...its very similar to the Windows enviroment now.

[doctormann]

Have you thought about using Linux, its free.

At the moment im running Linux Mint in VM Virtual Box, within Windows 7

carn't fault it....Linux is not like the old days when you had to load programs

by typing commands...its very similar to the Windows enviroment now.

Linux Mint is indeed a good OS and is an easy transition for those more used to a Windows environment. I run Mint 13 (Maya) on my Lenovo notebook - don't see any pressing need to upgrade to a later version right now.

I had intended installing Mint on my HP desktop machine as well but couldn't get some rather vital drivers for the Pegatron main board so I ended up with WIN7 on there instead.

The only other issues that I have with Mint, and Linux in general, is that a lot of hardware is still not fully supported. For example, you may well be able to find Linux drivers for your printer but they may not give you the full range of facilities that you would enjoy under Windows. Some scanners can give difficulties also. In general, the situation is much better than it was a couple of years ago.

As far as software is concerned, you can almost always find a Linux equivalent to a Windows program. A whole host of stuff is included in the Linux software repositories these days. For your 'must have' Windows programs you can generally run these under the Wine emulator, in Linux. If this won't work, there is always the option of using Virtual Box to create a Windows environment within Linux.

DM

[Pib]

Yeap, the great majority of computers sold in Thailand only come with free DOS. You need to buy/install the genuine OS. Thais would much prefer to take their computer to one of thousands of shops where they drop the computer off for a few hours and then come back and have the computer fully loaded with software...and they only pay a few hundred baht for this service. Heck, right in major stores like BananaIT, ITCity, etc., they will load Windows on your computer for Bt500 but it's usually an evaluation copy which will just cause you grief later on.

Yes, computers sold in western countries like the U.S. almost always come with Windows installed and it really don't seem to increase the computer price too much, but those computer manufacturers are getting a massive volume discount from Microsoft for the hundreds of thousand/millions of copies they buy...plus they know most western customers "expect" the computer to come loaded with genuine Windows; but in many countries like Thailand where copyrights laws are only enforced with empty words and little action, getting Windows loaded at your nearby computer shop is easy and cheap (along with all negatives that come with such software).

[h90]

Pretty much any PC you buy here comes without an OS no matter where you get it.

Think of the positives, you can put whatever OS you want on the machine without paying for a superfluous copy of Windows.

Seriously there is no OS. Only Dos. I would need to either buy a windows package or take it to another shop and pay them to install one for me which I know will not be 100%. I can do this all myself but how can they sell a computer with only a simple Dos program and with no back-up CD's?

A lot people in Europe complain that the shops only sell computer with OS. Why pay for windows if you want to install Linux yourself.

Here it is a lot better......No OS and they install what you want.

And what backup CDs? For the driver? When I bought computers I always put all the CDs in the junk because you download the newest drivers not the old outdated one. Beside that in new computer I wouldn't install a optical drive anymore.

[joncl]

Heck, right in major stores like BananaIT, ITCity, etc., they will load Windows on your computer for Bt500 but it's usually an evaluation copy which will just cause you grief later on.

Brought a brand new HP i7 notebook from IT city the other day, they installed windows 8 and gave me the genuine Win 8 install disks with it to, extra cost THB 2,500 - peace of mind = priceless.

[lopburi3]

Here it is a lot better......No OS and they install what you want.

The problem is the cost here is the same or more than elsewhere where the operating system is included. A case of market size.

[WhizBang]

Pretty much any PC you buy here comes without an OS no matter where you get it.

Think of the positives, you can put whatever OS you want on the machine without paying for a superfluous copy of Windows.

Seriously there is no OS. Only Dos. I would need to either buy a windows package or take it to another shop and pay them to install one for me which I know will not be 100%. I can do this all myself but how can they sell a computer with only a simple Dos program and with no back-up CD's?

New computers today do not come with any backup CDs. Everything is preloaded at the factory. If you have a windows CD key (that sticker from microsoft they usually put on the bottom of the computer), then you can download an ISO of the OS from microsoft and burn your own CD.

Drivers are frequently outdated by the time you get the computer, and should be updated anyway. Probably the BIOS too.

If you are complaining about the price, most items are more expensive here in Thailand, than in the USA. Not sure about Europe.

[astral]

Even if genuine Windows is installed, you do not get the installation disks

You are expected to write your own

Full details here

[ukrules]

Even if genuine Windows is installed, you do not get the installation disks

You are expected to write your own

Full details here

For the last two computers I bought in Thialand I specifically purchased a genuine copy of Windows 7 Professional which came on a sealed DVD with the serial number / activation key sticker inside.

This cost about 5000-5500 Baht which is about the same price as elsewhere in the world.

So you can get it and it's a legitimate copy but you need to pay for it and make sure you buy from a big retailer.

I always install the operating system myself from scratch so they don't deliberately or more likely inadvertently pre load any malware on my system.

From what I've read in the past cracked versions of Windows are notorious for malware, I read it's one way for someone to build a botnet - they just create a cracked windows installation ISO and wait for people to install it with the malware preloaded. A lot of hose people who crack software and upload it to the torrents don't do it for nothing.

[Chicog]

Unfortunately it's the piracy that keeps the prices down. If someone installs a legit Windows on a PC (which costs them) then they have to compete with everyone else flogging them with a pirate version.

If you really want a legal copy with media, you just have to do a bit of shopping around.

[Jiu-Jitsu]

Pretty much any PC you buy here comes without an OS no matter where you get it.

Think of the positives, you can put whatever OS you want on the machine without paying for a superfluous copy of Windows.

Seriously there is no OS. Only Dos. I would need to either buy a windows package or take it to another shop and pay them to install one for me which I know will not be 100%. I can do this all myself but how can they sell a computer with only a simple Dos program and with no back-up CD's?

New computers today do not come with any backup CDs. Everything is preloaded at the factory. If you have a windows CD key (that sticker from microsoft they usually put on the bottom of the computer), then you can download an ISO of the OS from microsoft and burn your own CD.

Drivers are frequently outdated by the time you get the computer, and should be updated anyway. Probably the BIOS too.

If you are complaining about the price, most items are more expensive here in Thailand, than in the USA. Not sure about Europe.

Of course this is not true. For Windows 7 perhaps, but not for Windows 8.

[Jiu-Jitsu]

Even if genuine Windows is installed, you do not get the installation disks

You are expected to write your own

Full details here

Have you actually read that article?

The "full details" are certainly not there.