So this client wants a new Fujitsu Siemens Esprimo Q5010-series SFF; a wonderful choice. The Q-series (save the Celeron variant) is a wonderful little gizmo. FSC has really hit home with this one. So this particular stock item does not feature FSC’s “Twin-Load” where the user is given a choice of either Windows Vista or Windows XP (also a great idea). So I needed to order a special “Windows Vista Downgrade” package from FSC/Microsoft.
The box with the downgrade kit arrives and.. it feels heavy. I wonder why, surely this can’t be anything more than one DVD (who needs CDs these days)? I open the box, and in it I find nine zillion pieces of paper, eight zillion CDs, and about tweny shrinkwraps. Because FSC/Microsoft want to save money, they’ve decided that it’s cheaper to ship this amount of paper, this amount of CDs, and this amount of shrinkwraps; cheaper than it would be for them to handle the extra step in the ordering process where I actually get to tell them which language version I need. Hello?!?
Why can’t the default shipment be just one DVD, with one piece of paper in it, directing all quests for information to a website (ever heard of it?), thus saving the world from a bunch of garbage and at the same time cutting down on shipping costs?
Huge corporations like Microsoft and Fujitsu Siemens are those that have the most pull when it comes to making global environmental changes, yet we see the grassroots outrunning these elephants time and time again.
To top things off, the Microsoft licensing representative I talked to claims I have order one of these downgrade kits per computer I want to downgrade! Hang on, I have a better idea, I’ll just not be recommending these computers to my clients, and instead tell them to buy those with FSC’s Twin-Load, or Windows XP. Damn the delivery times!