Dell's new Adamo laptop

Dell's new "Adamo" laptop, introduced today, is getting lots of attention and drawing comparisons to Apple's MacBook Air. But what's particularly interesting is the way the PC maker is treating the required Windows Certificate of Authenticity and other stickers that design aficionados might deem unsightly: It's hiding them under a special, removable plate.

CNet News.com's Rafe Needleman has details and photos in this blog post. An excerpt:

Microsoft requires that the Windows Certificate of Authenticity sticker can't be replaced by a monochrome etching, and must be accessible to the end user without the use of tools to see it. For most machines, that means a sticker on the bottom of the product. For the Adamo, though, a magnetic coverplate behind the Adamo's screen hides the COA (and also the FCC certification). This cover also hides a few service screws, but its main purpose, and the reason it is magnetic, is to meet the letter of Microsoft's sticker law while still keeping the laptop free from unsightly badges.

As Needleman notes, the engineering investment required to make that happen means that we probably won't be seeing similar coverplates on cheaper machines. The Adamo starts at $1,999. But it will be interesting to see if this causes Microsoft to rethink its rules.