“Is it possible to buy a laptop without Windows? I am planning to install an ubuntu distribution, which is open source (free). Would such a request provide a discount to the product? I fully understand that without windows, any additional software (and perhaps features) may not function appropriately.”
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negative. This is sold as a "SKU" meaning its a package deal. Besides. it would freak out so baddly when you tried to convert it to tablet or stand mode.. The whole reason this thing works correctly IS the special windows-only drivers that turn on and off the keyboard and mouse as needed. Ubuntu is lucky to even have touch screen support for many models, much less form factor conversion drivers. And before you think I'm a Linux hater, I would point to my server stack running nothing but Debian and Ubuntu servers. Even my home media centers are Debian. I'm sorry, but Linux is playing catch up to the whole touch-centric world. You could install Ubuntu on this, but don't expect to use it as anything but a Laptop. And there is no way to get a discount for removing windows. That's not something Best Buy has ever done for us Linux people. And its unlikely that they ever will. I plan on installing Linux on my Yoga2 very soon as a dual boot system. Aside from that, I would strongly discourage you from blowing away Windows completely on these Win 8 tablets. At a bare minimum, make a recovery USB drive and TEST it before making any changes. They can restore your partitions if you mess up something during the install. Otherwise, good luck getting even a manufacturer's warranty.
Sorry, there was a problem. Please try again later.I doubt it. The OS is preinstalled so the license that goes along with it is built into the purchase price. You cannot buy it without an operating system installed.
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