content: I don't know. If you buy a laptop from an OEM then Microsoft will get paid even if you decide to install linux on it or not - which is bullshit by itself, but moving on -  so I'd argue that they couldn't care less whether you ran linux or not. And linux itself really a direct threat to Microsoft Windows at the moment, Or what I mean to say is that the sort of people that use linux right now are likely to be of the more technically proficient sort, who have some need for it.  Personally I'm more inclined to blame the vendor on this one. It just seems to be too far to go for it to be a conspiracy, especially when that conspiracy means alienating possibly 30% of your potential consumer base. And is something that will just be fixed later on down the line anyway.