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Thread: User paid to uninstall Windows XP

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    User paid to uninstall Windows XP

    An interesting news item I read on BBC, sorry i cannot supply url as I need minimum of 5 posts.


    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.

  2. #2
    Flat cap, Whippets, Cave. Clunk's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by mchu6am4 View Post
    Cash back
    Back of the net.

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    WEEEEEEEEEEEEE! MadduckUK's Avatar
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    kiss my face
    Quote Originally Posted by Ephesians
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    Vodka

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    Senior Member JPreston's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by MadduckUK View Post
    kiss my face
    WTF dude - it's "Touch my face!"

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    Senior Member pr0p4g4nd4's Avatar
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    Completely Offtopic:

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    It is kiss my face and not touch my face btw

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    Senior Member JPreston's Avatar
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    What? When does he say that? And then where does 'touch my face' come from, I'm sure it was Alan on The Day Today . Also - the original and best - 'Eat my goal'

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    WEEEEEEEEEEEEE! MadduckUK's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by JPreston View Post
    What? When does he say that? And then where does 'touch my face' come from, I'm sure it was Alan on The Day Today . Also - the original and best - 'Eat my goal'
    http://www.mattfacer.com/sounds/part...0my%20face.mp3

    smell my cheese you mother!
    Quote Originally Posted by Ephesians
    Do not be drunk with wine, which will ruin you, but be filled with the Spirit
    Vodka

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    Senior Member JPreston's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by MadduckUK View Post
    I stand corrected...said the man in the orthopaedic shoe...

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    That's saaaa-aaa-addd...

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    peal my bell.

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    Hardcore Til I Die htid's Avatar
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    Am i stupid or do none of your replies to the original post make any sense whatsoever?!

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    Alan Partridge... Flatley my dear, I don't river-dance... give a damn!

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    LWA
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    Dan!
    Dan!
    Dan!
    Dan!
    Dan!

    /back on topic Link to BBC Story

  14. #14
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    They probably didn't even cancel his license. It's a lot less hassle to just send £50 to anyone who whines I think.

  15. #15
    www.5lab.co.uk
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    probably right, bit of a bargin for people who want to run linux on a laptop though
    hughlunnon@yahoo.com | I have sigs turned off..

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    So basically I can get 50quid off dell's just be dropping XP? Sweet.
    Crosshair VIII Hero (WIFI), 3900x, 32GB DDR4, Many SSDs, EVGA FTW3 3090, Ethoo 719


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