After 8 months of trial, Lenovo has decided to drop their preinstalled GNU/Linux option.
Lenovo’s executive director of external communications, Ray Gorman, denied in vague terms that the current situation marks a strategic shift, though he did admit the company is “refining its Linux strategy.” He added, “Lenovo is not abandoning its commitment to choice of operating system, and actually is increasing the role of the Linux operating system in Lenovo’s product portfolio.”
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Actually, Lenovo already announced its Linux-based S9 netbook models, when it launched its Netbook line about a month ago. However, the company provided pricing and availability information only for the Windows XP-based “S10″ model, saying that the Linux-based “S9″ model would be limited to overseas education markets.
It’s kind of odd how they are one of the best laptop manufacturers to pick if you want to use free software, but they seem to be the slowest in adopting this trend.
September 11th, 2008 at 21:57
Los Alamos Computers continues to offer ThinkPads without Windows. They also offer preinstalled gNewSense as an option.
September 11th, 2008 at 21:59
I’ve been there before, but I think their machines are a bit more expensive.