Tosh, Microsoft thrashed over Windows notebook licence

An Australian end user deserves a fabled Register pin for winning a battle to get his money back for an operating system he didn't want. Geoffrey Bennett, a Linux fan, fought a long and sometimes acrimonious fight to make Toshiba refund A$110 because although he wanted the notebook, he didn't want the Microsoft operating system that came bundled with it. Bennett maintained that the Microsoft Licence Agreement that came with the notebook showed that if he didn't agree to the terms, Toshiba had to refund the money for the OS. But Toshiba wriggled and squirmed for months before executives at the company agreed to divvy up the money he was owed. Three times, a Tosh executive insisted that Bennett would have to return the entire machine for a complete refund. And three times, Bennett refused. Eventually Toshiba gave up and agreed to pay him the dosh for the DOS on his Tosh. The full, and in places very funny saga, is on Bennett's site, which you can find here. ®