14 DAY TRIAL // Dell recently made the headlines when it decided, due to popular demand, to bring back Windows XP as an option to their customers. However, it seems that Dell customers would like a bit more than just XP.
Despite initially switching to Vista loaded systems, it seems that the reaction through the company's IdeaStorm feedback and suggestion system was big enough to make the manufacturer rethink the decision. "We heard you loud and clear on bringing the Windows XP option back to our Dell consumer PC offerings," Dell said on its Ideas in Action page. Posts on Dell's IdeaStorm site get voted on by users, and there are many threads asking for Windows XP, the most popular one having received 10,768 points.
Interestingly enough, Mac enthusiast news site MacDailyNews reports that there are also quite a number of suggestions for Dell to offer OS X with its computers. "Now, you can search the ideas, so that's just what we did. We searched for 'OS X,' found a bunch of posts asking for Dell to offer Mac OS X, and totaled them up. There are currently 7,751 votes for Dell to offer Mac OS X spread throughout Dell's IdeaStorm site."
While the votes for OS X are not as many as those for Windows XP, and nowhere near the numbers that Linux and Open Office are getting, they are nevertheless a clear indication that even non-Mac users find Vista unattractive. This is probably not news to Dell, as Michael Dell has wanted to license OS X for their boxes since 2005. So far, Apple has not made any move in this direction, and, considering that Apple gets its money from the sale of Macs rather than OS X, it never will.