Don't get me wrong, I'm a geek, I'm a power user, I can fix my own computer. I just don't want to. I just installed the latest version of Ubuntu on my current netbook, and surprise surprise, I need to hack some drivers and recompile the kernel. It's a chore that I just don't want to deal with any more.
More economically, if the price of support works out less than the opportunity cost of doing it myself, then it obviously makes sense to use the support.
- I would have thought most people currently buying linux PCs don't have the same support needs as those buying Windows PCs (generalisation obviously, but lowest common denominator and averages)
- For Dell products at least, support is a paid-for extra that you can add on when buying (at least for OS-level support)
- I wonder how the costs would balance out between needing staff with new skills and saving money on Windows licenses