Some systems come guaranteed to run software from Novell Inc.'s Netware to The Santa Cruz Operation Inc.'s Unix, and others are even prestuffed with peripherals and preloaded with software. Plug and play, but always for a price. The answer could well be different for you than it is for the next reader that pulls Open Computing off the newsstand. Still, being smart means going in with your eyes open. Maybe this column will help clean your glasses.
Drives come from the big warehouse that stocks everything in the known universe.
Keyboards, mice, you name it, somebody's got the best price for it. You might if you're smart about it. The vendor gets a far better deal than you on most things inside their computers. The most notable exception I've found is hard drives. The other thorny issue related to drives is that packaged systems often feature drives that aren't what you might choose.