With the production lines that these manufacturers run, yes it is more expensive for them to pull a subset of computers and not load their bloatware windows image. That just isn't a situation they are setup for. You can argue about whether or not it should be this way, but that is the reality of the computer manufacturing process. Sure, it's more accurate to say they won't do it, but in all likelihood, they can't do it and keep their profit margin.
Now if they were to stay that they were contractually obligated to install windows on every machine, then they'd have a problem.
Disagree. If you've ever seen the manufacturing process it would just be a simple bypass. The installation of the images is done far closer to boxing than you likely realize. In all reality the bypass of that process could shave critical time off filling an order, especially when you're talking about made-to-order combinations.
Now straight line runs are another story, but that's not the context of the conver
Any change in the process makes it more difficult to manage. More difficult means more expensive. And maybe they've just decided that they didn't want the hassle.
Now if they were to stay that they were contractually obligated to install windows on every machine, then they'd have a problem.