A
Aqua Regia
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6144782.stm
Tuesday, 14 November 2006, 10:35 GMT
User paid to uninstall Windows XP
By Mark Ward
Technology correspondent, BBC News website
Mr Mitchell had no plans to use Windows XP on his new laptop.
A Sheffield man has won a refund from Dell for not installing
Microsoft's Windows XP on a laptop he bought from the PC giant.
Freelance programmer Dave Mitchell ordered a Dell laptop on 21
October, and the machine was delivered a few days later.
As Mr Mitchell was planning to run the Linux open source operating
system on the machine, he had no need for the copy of Windows XP Home that
had been pre-installed.
When he started it for the first time, he clicked the box that said
"no" on the Windows licence agreement that asked him to agree to its terms.
The text of this agreement states users can get a refund for the "unused
products" on their new computer if they get in touch with the machine's
manufacturer.
Cash back
Mr Mitchell, who is an active member of the open source community,
said he knew that other Linux fans had tried to get refunds in a similar
fashion with varying degrees of success.
The origins of this campaign date from 1999 when open source activists
in the San Francisco area started campaigning to get refunds for software
they had no intention of using.
I was pretty gob-smacked that it was so easy.
Dave Mitchell
Every time a computer-maker, such as Dell, sells a PC or laptop they
must pay Microsoft for the copy of the Windows operating system installed on
it. While many PCs are now sold with a customer's choice of operating system
installed, no laptop-makers yet offer the option of anything but Windows,
said Mr Mitchell.
To bolster his case, Mr Mitchell shot photographs of every stage of
the process that ended with him declining Microsoft's licence terms.
"I had a clear record of what the licence did or did not say," he
said.
"I fully intended to take it as far as the small claims court," he
said, "just to be bloody-minded."
He then wrote a letter, outlining what he had done, to Dell's
Bracknell office and waited for a response. In the letter he did not mention
his digital document of the process with photographs.
Dell only offers Windows software on its laptops
"I assumed that would come out when it came to the small claims
court," he told the BBC News website.
However, two days later, Dell rang him and told him to expect a refund
to his credit card soon after.
"They only took two days to respond," he said. "I was pretty
gob-smacked that it was so easy."
The total refund was for £55.23, which Mr Mitchell took to be the
value of a pre-installed version of Windows XP Home.
A couple of days after the refund was agreed, an invoice from Dell
arrived through the post, which described the refund as "goodwill
unspecified".
Although Mr Mitchell has now waived the right to use the copy of
Windows XP Home on his laptop, Dell has not asked for the installation disc
to be returned.
"I've cost Dell £50, not Microsoft, which is a slightly annoying,"
said Mr Mitchell. He encouraged other people to try to get a refund and
wondered if Dell's policy on which operating systems it offered on laptops
would change if enough people tried.
Tuesday, 14 November 2006, 10:35 GMT
User paid to uninstall Windows XP
By Mark Ward
Technology correspondent, BBC News website
Mr Mitchell had no plans to use Windows XP on his new laptop.
A Sheffield man has won a refund from Dell for not installing
Microsoft's Windows XP on a laptop he bought from the PC giant.
Freelance programmer Dave Mitchell ordered a Dell laptop on 21
October, and the machine was delivered a few days later.
As Mr Mitchell was planning to run the Linux open source operating
system on the machine, he had no need for the copy of Windows XP Home that
had been pre-installed.
When he started it for the first time, he clicked the box that said
"no" on the Windows licence agreement that asked him to agree to its terms.
The text of this agreement states users can get a refund for the "unused
products" on their new computer if they get in touch with the machine's
manufacturer.
Cash back
Mr Mitchell, who is an active member of the open source community,
said he knew that other Linux fans had tried to get refunds in a similar
fashion with varying degrees of success.
The origins of this campaign date from 1999 when open source activists
in the San Francisco area started campaigning to get refunds for software
they had no intention of using.
I was pretty gob-smacked that it was so easy.
Dave Mitchell
Every time a computer-maker, such as Dell, sells a PC or laptop they
must pay Microsoft for the copy of the Windows operating system installed on
it. While many PCs are now sold with a customer's choice of operating system
installed, no laptop-makers yet offer the option of anything but Windows,
said Mr Mitchell.
To bolster his case, Mr Mitchell shot photographs of every stage of
the process that ended with him declining Microsoft's licence terms.
"I had a clear record of what the licence did or did not say," he
said.
"I fully intended to take it as far as the small claims court," he
said, "just to be bloody-minded."
He then wrote a letter, outlining what he had done, to Dell's
Bracknell office and waited for a response. In the letter he did not mention
his digital document of the process with photographs.
Dell only offers Windows software on its laptops
"I assumed that would come out when it came to the small claims
court," he told the BBC News website.
However, two days later, Dell rang him and told him to expect a refund
to his credit card soon after.
"They only took two days to respond," he said. "I was pretty
gob-smacked that it was so easy."
The total refund was for £55.23, which Mr Mitchell took to be the
value of a pre-installed version of Windows XP Home.
A couple of days after the refund was agreed, an invoice from Dell
arrived through the post, which described the refund as "goodwill
unspecified".
Although Mr Mitchell has now waived the right to use the copy of
Windows XP Home on his laptop, Dell has not asked for the installation disc
to be returned.
"I've cost Dell £50, not Microsoft, which is a slightly annoying,"
said Mr Mitchell. He encouraged other people to try to get a refund and
wondered if Dell's policy on which operating systems it offered on laptops
would change if enough people tried.