Tesco's PC Buyers Guide

Like many companies in Microsoft's partner eccosphere, Tesco ensure that your choice is limited to the hardware and software, which mysteriously excludes the OS it runs. Like any PC sellers, they let you know that all PCs are as different as the uses people buy them for. It's why you have a choice of everything from the size of screen to graphics card, or ram to HD capacity. There are plenty of vendors to choose from too, depending on your preference and budget, from ASUS to HP, Toshiba to Acer. Yet the one constant in the equation of "which PC suits your needs" is Windows.

Windows is apparently such an ideal fit for every PC use that they don't want to include it as a variable, yet funnily enough they include it as a "feature" without telling you it makes up about £50 of the price you're paying for the PC.

So lets' look a bit closer at Tesco's buying advice for PC buyers. Buying guides are important as (in theory) in helps people narrow down their choices to what they need if they have little knowledge of the subject as many subjects are filled with jargon. There are two different sources for this, the first part looks at the online buying guide, a Microsoft .aspx page which gives you a clue as to the neutrality of Tesco, and the second part looks at page 492 of the Tesco Direct Autumn / Winter 2009 catalogue. As I don't have a scanner I can't scan the page, but the catalogs are available at any Tesco store to pick up free of charge. First the online buyers guide.

Using Your Computer

The second question you should ask is what you want your computer to do. Computers vary in price according to power and functionality. For example, there is no point spending thousands on a state-of-the-art gaming computer if you only use it for Internet browsing and word-processing. We've classified all our computers into different usage types, described below. You should decide which one fits your needs best, and then look for it on our website.

• Internet & Email - for simple tasks, connecting to the internet and occasional email, basic word processing etc.
• Entertainment - for regular multi-purpose use and for storing and playing music and video
• Ultimate - for high-end performance, game playing and applications such as graphic design and video editing
• Ultra Mobile - for internet and email on the go!"

I agree with the separation of usage types Tesco have described, however Linux is a clear winner in three of the four usage types they list. The only usage type where Windows is the correct choice is "Ultimate" as AAA title gaming is an exclusive Windows or gaming console area. Professional graphic designers use applications like Photoshop, which is only available on Windows and Macs. Most professional graphic designers use Macs, so even that is a debatable win for Windows. Certainly if that is one of many uses for a PC, then Windows has that usage type sewn up. Lets look at the other usage types shall we?

Internet & Email

Both Windows and Linux come with web browsers and email clients built in. Any web browser lets users connect to any online services like Facebook, MySpace, Twitter etc Windows comes with a 30 day trial version of Microsoft Office, Linux comes with a full Open Office suite pre-installed. In other words with Windows, customers have to pay more money to have an office suite to do "basic word processing" where Linux gives them one for free. Every document the customer saves in Microsoft Office will be in Microsoft's own formats, meaning the customer will be locked into Windows for future purchases. Windows needs additional protection to go online, it needs a third party firewall, anti-virus and anti-spyware all sapping resources and all costing money. In other words the customer has to pay more money for any sense of security, with Linux, security is built into the OS itself. The malware problems are Windows exclusive malware problems. With every link or file, Windows is potentially at risk, and functions have to be disabled just to keep Windows alive.

Entertainment

Windows comes with it's own media player, supporting codecs Microsoft want to see people use, that locks them into Windows. Windows is built for Microsoft's customers, who are not you. Microsoft's customers are other companies. The large media companies want Windows to have lot's of DRM (Digital Rights Management) at every turn, and Vista and Windows 7 does not disappoint them. It checks at every turn whether or not you're a thief starting from the assumption that you are. If it thinks you are it'll disable functions, nag you about buying a "legal" copy of whatever it decided was illegal. Every part of the process is checked, re-checked and checked again. All of this is invasive and resource sapping. Linux by comparison has plenty very good media players, from Rythmbox and Amarok for music management to SMPlayer, VLC and Totem for video playback. Every mainstream distro will have at least one of each installed.

They are arguably easier to use, and don't assume you're a thief when you run them. As they don't do DRM, they don't waste resources with lots of checks, they just sit back and efficiently let you do what you want, making your media experience pleasant instead of a fight. In most cases with the exception of Apple hardware since they like vendor lock-in of their own, devices you plug into Linux PCs will automatically be detected and offer you the chance to browse them etc without any further prompting. Linux has support for types of devices built into the kernel itself, so they're available from the first time you boot. Windows by comparison require drivers for almost everything, so if you don't have the CD that came with it, you have to go looking online. Depending on the vendor Windows itself can sometimes find them easily, but sometimes not. Even if you do install from the CD, how many times did the CD decide to install several more trial applications you never asked for, just so your new camera or mp3 player would work?

Even DVD playback is a non-issue as the CSS encryption in DVDs has been as successful as other DRM in that it's been cracked within days of release. It's illegal in some countries to distribute Linux with the codecs and libraries required to play DVDs (libdvdcss) and mp3 files due to software patents. The UK does not have software patents, Tesco is a UK company with UK stores selling to UK consumers, so it's right to judge it by UK laws. This means there's no reason Linux can't be pre-installed with that functionality for consumers straight out of the box.

Ultra Mobile

Here is where Linux really outshines Windows due to one very simple design difference. Windows is a large monolith of an OS, where Linux is modular. In essence, any portable device has to have software as light as possible, so the battery life is maximized. A netbook with a 30 minute battery from new is not going to sell. With Windows, there's so much built into it, that they can't separate off the parts more suited to a desktop. Even Internet Explorer and Windows Explorer are built into the core of Windows to the point that even if you don't use them, you're still vulnerable to exploits that affect them. You can now uninstall IE thanks to the EU's refusal to be bought and bullied by Microsoft but that's only the front end browser part, not IE itself.

With Linux everything is a choice. You can build a system service by service. You can leave out heavy resource applications and opt for lighter ones instead. Linux is also a group effort, where many different projects combine to give a user experience designed for the user, not the vendors revenue stream. So if one application does a better job it'll be chosen. There is no pushing of one vendor's applications regardless of their suitability. Linux is also an open source community affair, so people with an interest can create, modifiy, port etc easily. This has allowed Linux to take advantage of the more energy efficient ARM cpus where Windows are stuck on Intel and AMD based platforms. This modular approach makes Linux the ideal OS for a netbook.

Netbooks are supposed to be designed with cost in mind, so everything is scaled back to make it as cheap as possible for the customer, so why do Tesco only offer netbooks with Windows XP installed? Windows XP adds to the cost. Microsoft like to keep stuff like that under heavy NDAs so you'll never see a retailer tell you how much it adds to the price. The estimate is between £5 to £15 onto the price of a netbook. Why only offer this when Linux is available free of charge with a higher spec hardware? Linux EeePCs came with 20gb hard drives for less than the 12gb XP models. Cost is everything. Value for money is everything. Yet Tesco don't offer any choice. Why not?

Netbooks were (yet another) emerging trend that Microsoft never saw coming and had to react to late in the game. Vista was very resource intensive and had no chance of installing on a netbook, so they stripped back their 8 yr old XP and shoe horned that onto them to avoid conceding the market to Linux. Yes, Tesco believe in giving you an 8 yr old hacked together OS running slower with more insecurity than a modern Linux designed specifically for the hardware. Not only that, but you're paying for XP in the price. This changes now with Windows 7 of course, time will tell how suitable it is on a market Microsoft have tried to kill off, but what won't change is that the price of Windows will be included in the price of your new netbook, so expect to see a price rise for no extra benefit to you.

Operating systems

An operating system is what allows you to use applications and generally access all of the information you have on your computer. By far the most popular operating system is Microsoft Windows, the most recent version being Microsoft Windows Vista. All computers sold by Tesco include a windows operating system pre-installed. Netbooks often have the older Windows XP operating system, as it uses less resources and is cheaper. Windows 7 is coming soon. For more information, see our separate Operating Systems guide.

There you have it "All computers sold by Tesco include a windows operating system pre-installed". Incidentally, proof reading that before posting would have spotted that "windows" should be "Windows" as it refers to a product name, but I chose to post an unedited version as it appears on their corporate site. Even when Windows is not the best choice for your needs, they will allow you to choose every other part of your purchase, as long as it runs Windows. "By far the most popular operating system is Microsoft Windows" is an interesting choice of words given than Microsoft often ensure that vendors like Tesco don't offer the customer any other choice. How can it not be "the most popular" if it's the only thing on the shelf? Given how Microsoft pick and choose stats to suit their agenda, provided by their partners, even naming which version of Windows as "the best selling" or "the most popular" is bogus on a number of counts.

How many people who bought a new PC in the last couple of years tried to choose XP and were instead told "here's Vista"? How many people paid a premium to downgrade that Vista to XP, so it left the store as XP? Won't you be pleased to know that Microsoft counts you among the people who "chose Vista". Every single sale like that counted as a Vista sale, hyped by their legal and illegal marketing teams. They claim to offer customers what they want, yet they restrict customers choice to the versions of the current Windows. They try to tell everyone how people are "choosing" Windows, when they're actually choosing a new PC, and Windows happens to come pre-installed on it.

Security & Safety

It's vital that you take steps to ensure your computer is protected from viruses and other attacks from the internet. Every computer should run a firewall and an anti-virus package. In addition to this, if you have children, you should consider setting up Parental Control. Finally, as mentioned above, computers now store the history of our lives in terms of pictures, music and videos - it's crucial to make sure you back this data up, as computer hard drives don't last for ever. We strongly suggest using an external hard drive to back up your data. More information, including details of our Anti-Virus software, is in our Security & Safety guide.

Notice the part where they point out that viruses are an exclusive Microsoft Windows problem? No, neither do I. With Windows, you can't run just install it, go online and start using it. You have to install anti-virus, anti-spyware and firewall applications first, otherwise you'll be recruited as a footsoldier on a botnet in no time. It'd be nice if Microsoft did their job responsibly and released software without these exploits but that'd upset their partners, in this case the security companies, revenue streams.

Any industry which exists with one purpose, to fix the flaws left by another company, shows the quality of the original product. Linux by comparison does not need anti-virus or anti-spyware applications so those resources can be utilized doing what you want to do with your PC ie the activities you bought your PC for in the first place. It does still need a firewall, but has one built into the DNA called iptables. Iptables comes installed on every Linux distro by default and starts at first boot without any configuration.

Onto the printed Tesco Direct Autumn / Winter 2009 catalog now. As I have mentioned earlier, I don't have a scanner but if someone in the UK can pick up this catalog in their local Tesco, scan it and post to an image sharing site I'll gladly post a link to it. For the most part it's just a differently worded version of their online buyers guide. As you'd expect any printed publication which is distributed and valid for around 6 months has to be static, where the website can be updated at any time. From this angle you'd expect the online guide to be more up to date, but it appears not.

The biggest bone of contention here is the use of the Microsoft logo. Tesco use generic icons to describe the various sections about CPU, RAM, Hard Drives, Disc Drives and Graphics, yet chose the Microsoft logo for the section on OS's, with yet another endorsement of Windows as a description. Why is Windows endorsed like this? Perhaps the use of a tiny font is part of the plan too, to make it awkward for customers to read.

The operating system is essential to your PC and tells it where all your files are - without it your computer is useless. The newest and most popular operating system today is Microsoft Windows Vista.

I don't know if Tesco buyers have this thing we call "the internet" but Vista has been a disaster all round. Microsoft's astroturf army tired to convince the world it wasn't so for a LONG time, but eventually had to concede defeat in the face of real users experiences. This was the entire reason Windows 7 was accelerated. It's gonna be interesting how many people buy Windows 7 assuming they've escaped Vista only to find they've been conned by more slick and shameless marketing.

At time of printing, and for the first part of the sale period of the printed brochure it was all Tesco and Microsoft offered, but it's far from "the newest". Macs have had a new OSX in that time, Linux distributions have released multiple new versions in that time. Vista was a dead duck when the brochure came out too, so the only reason to pimp it was because Tesco refuse to offer customers anything but Windows, and Vista was all there was. To anyone with any tech knowledge, moves like this evaporate any IT credibility the company has. Again the usage types are listed, this time with some more detailed ideas:

• Internet & Email - Browse the web, shop online or use the latest online tools and applications. Stay connected with email and online social networking tools. Create, edit and manage simple documents from word processing to presentations.
• Entertainment - Improved graphics are essential when watching movies and playing the latest games. Download the latest movies or watch them on DVD. More storage space to help you manage your music and photo collection.
• Ultimate - Greater processing speeds, enabling you to do more quicker. Higher capacity storage devices, for managing more music, photos and music. The latest technology and design gives you everything you need at your fingertips.
• Ultra Mobile - Stay connected with email and online social networking tools. Browse the web, shop online or use the latest online tools and applications. Lighter and smaller, perfect for people on the move, who need to stay connected.

On the repetition of the "shop online" angle. Banks themselves are now recommending that you don't use Windows to do online banking as it's not secure. They want you to use Linux. Yes that's right, the banks say online shopping using Windows is not secure, yet Tesco seem to know different as they don't offer you anything but Windows. Is this a new angle to get people to buy Tesco insurance? Do they cover identity theft caused by malware infecting their Windows PC?

Given the level of technical incompetence shown in the buyers department and bad advice given to customers, you have to question the safety of customers data on the tesco.com website. Any online store relies on trusting them with your credit card details. Would you trust them to look after your personal data? Their website is an all .aspx site which is a Microsoft format, using Microsoft technologies. They have also been stupid enough to compound the bad security decisions by running them on Windows IIS 6.0 servers.

Lighter, smaller, faster booting, non moving parts ("SSD" solid state drive instead of a traditional "HD" hard drive) are perfect for netbooks, so why offer a slow booting Windows XP on lightweight laptops instead of a proper Linux netbook which boots quickly and is ready to use?

And since when was "The latest technology and design gives you everything you need at your fingertips." a use case? It's marketing jargon 101. The dirty secret that's sustained the PC industry for a long time is that they want you to keep buying newer hardware, even if you don't need it. Every new version of Windows means you need to go buy some new hardware to run it. The sales pitch explains how it'll solve all your niggly issues, but it never does. At some point they force you to upgrade by stopping support for your version, or not doing drivers for your version of Windows.

The problem they've had for a while now, is that unless you fit into the "Ultimate" use case group, then any new entry level PC will be way more than you'll ever need. So the allure of "the latest technology" is just that; bait dangled out in front of you to get you to spend more to "future proof" your investment.

It's worth reminding readers at this point that Linux is completely free. You can install it on as many PCs as you like, all free of charge. Microsoft charge "per PC", they also now have "family packs" where they let you install Windows 7 on a whopping three PCs for only £150. Windows is NEVER free, even if the vendors choose not to tell you how much you're paying for it. Not only is Linux free to install on as many PCs as you like, you can also distribute copies legally freely to anyone you like, who can in turn install on as many PCs as they like and redistribute if they want.

There are no conditions on the use of the software either, so if you use an office suite to do college homework on, and have a side income of being an ebay trader, Open Office does not care, where Microsoft Office will likely be installed as a "home and student" license. Does being a trader count as "commercial use"? If so, Microsoft want more money from you.

If being free of cost is not enough, Open Office also uses proper implementations of open standards like ODF which means any documents you create in Open Office you will open, edit etc perfectly in any other open standard office suite like KOffice. Microsoft pay lip service to ODF only because large government customers are demanding it. They reluctantly offer partial support which was never intended to work properly, as they tried to get their own OOXML approved as a replacement.Microsoft's corruption of the ISO with ballot stuffing etc is a whole subject on it's own, so feel free to explore that if it interests you.