AS anyone who remembers the bad old days of personal computing can tell you, installing an operating system from scratch can reduce the bravest person to tears.
For that reason, many consumers were more than happy to let the vendor do the installing. Now all you need do is put the right plugs in the right holes, press the on button and the computer is ready to rumble.
The staggering growth of Microsoft Windows has meant that if you buy a PC – unless you buy an Apple Macintosh – you have a choice of it being bundled with Windows or Windows (98 or NT that is). Even IBM, which has its own operating system, OS/2 Warp, ships Windows as standard. If you decide you want OS/2, you have to buy the PC with Windows and pay for a copy of OS/2.
If you're happy with Windows, none of this is really a problem: all you want is your computer to work smoothly. Users of other operating systems, however, are not thrilled at having to pay for software they have no intention of using. It's like buying a new CD player and also having to purchase a Celine Dion CD you don't want.
Until recently, the solution has been to wear it. But when South Australian-based Linux user Geoffrey Bennett bought a new notebook PC from Toshiba last year, he also read the end-user licence agreement for the copy of Windows that came with it.
The agreement stated that if he didn't agree to the conditions of the licence "you may not use or copy the software product and you should promptly contact the PC manufacturer for instructions on return for the unused product(s) for a refund".
Bennett contacted Toshiba and says that while the company originally refused to refund his money, he was later offered a refund for the entire machine. Finally, Toshiba gave him a cheque for $110 for the return of the unused software.
Toshiba declined to comment on Bennett's case, or the wider implications of the refund, but it is not a situation unique to that company. Few, if any, name-brand vendors in Australia are willing to ship a PC without Windows. This is for a number of reasons, says Michelle Vanzella, marketing and business development manager with computer vendor Gateway.
Gateway is unwilling to ship machines without an operating system because such machines cannot be tested before shipping. The company is currently considering offering Linux as an alternative.
"Gateway is in rigorous compatibility testing for Linux and we're also doing market research to determine whether or not there is a demand for the product," she says. Vanzella explains that part of the reason for the company's hesitation is that Gateway offers free support for Windows for its customers and wants to offer the same service to Linux customers, which has training and support implications for Gateway staff. In the meantime, customers who want a Gateway machine but don't want Windows have the choice of either paying for it and not using it or returning both the hardware and software. "Our warranty service agreement allows the user to return the full system. We've never allowed them to return just the software bundle," says Vanzella.
Most computer vendors have a similar policy. While Compaq offers customised orders for large corporate clients and alternatives to Windows on its servers, it's an all-or-nothing deal for PCs.
Consumers not willing to accept the end-user agreement have the option of returning the hardware and software for a refund.
Some believe this practice may contravene the Trade Practices Act. "It appears that it may be a case of third-line forcing," says Patrick Fair, a lawyer with Philips Fox specialising in computer issues.
Section 47 (6) of the Act makes it illegal, he says, to "refuse to supply particular goods or services if the purchaser has not acquired, or not agreed to acquire, other goods or services from another person".
When Living IT contacted the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, a spokeswoman said the ACCC had not investigated Microsoft and the end-user agreement in regard to Section 47 (6). The ACCC declined to comment further. It's a murky area, since technically the vendor has licensed the product from Microsoft and is then selling it to you. But having Microsoft so entrenched at the point of sale is an area of concern, says Mara Bun, Australian Consumers Association policy and public affairs manager. "Over the long term it is essential that operating systems become competitive at the sale point. It's important that customers negotiate a price for the system they want and, say, wipe off Windows if they don't want it," she says.
As far as Microsoft is concerned, the issue of refunds is up to computer manufacturers. "If you look at what it's about, there are two agreements: the agreement between us and the manufacturer and then the manufacturer and end-user agreement," says Tony Wilkinson, Windows product manager at Microsoft. "The terms and conditions of our agreement state that it is up to the manufacturer to decide whether the refund is just available for Windows or the whole PC.
"With our agreement with manufacturers there are no restrictions that they have to ship Windows on all PCs. They can ship PCs without a copy of Windows."
The US Department Of Justice does not necessarily think so. Part of its antitrust trial against Microsoft has raised the issue of "exclusionary agreements [that] preclude companies from distributing, promoting, buying, or using products of Microsoft's software competitors or potential competitors".
In any case, Microsoft is not going to be let out of the debate easily. Inspired by Bennett's case, an organisation has been formed in the US called the Windows Refund Group (http://www.linuxmall.com/refund), which plans to return members' unused copies of Windows and request a refund on February 15.
"We are going to Microsoft in good faith expecting a refund. According to the end-user licence agreement, there is no indication that Microsoft will refuse," says Nick Moffitt, one of the coordinators of Windows refund efforts in San Francisco who have dubbed themselves the Linux Mafia. "The vendors are really agents of Microsoft as far as refunds are concerned, so we're saving everyone time and effort by going directly to Microsoft."
The issue is not going away. In March last year, a US consumer advocate wrote to six vendors, requesting that they offer operating systems other than Microsoft's.
Whatever the outcome of the February 15 event, supporters hope it will raise awareness of the alternatives to Windows. "I think the vendors are starting to take note of the rapidly growing Linux user base out there, and I'm sure that once they are convinced there is the market for it, pre-installed Linux will be an option," says Bennett.
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AS anyone who remembers the bad old days of personal computing can tell you, installing an operating system from scratch can reduce the bravest person to tears. 