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A knowledge and experience repository on how to reclaim your "Windows Tax"

The "Windows Tax" has artificially increased hardware prices for users of GNU/Linux by a mandatory payment to Microsoft even though no Microsoft software is being used on these machines. The reason: Almost any computer and laptop is bundled with a Microsoft Windows licence. Most vendors will not sell computers without it because apparently their terms with Microsoft do not allow it.

The only way to counteract that "Windows Tax" on PCs and laptops is to ask for a refund, but details on this process are not easy to find, and there is no central repository to allow people gather and share their information with the process.

Changing that is the purpose of this section in our Fellowship page.

Please feel free to add your own experience or links to information about attempts by others!

• Fabian Thommen ordered a Dell without XP from the very beginning (no refund necessary) http://rca.snm-hgkz.ch/blog/windows-refunds/

• Detaxe.org doing work on the refund in France: The AFUL (Association francophone des utilisateurs de Linux) put into action a working group on the refund issue. See also specific experiences with refund and a detailed refund procedure. There's also some info about refund in France concerning laptops purchased through Lidl.

• Serge Wroclawski gives a counterpoint for any excuses the vendor might have http://community.linux.com/community/07/01/03/227237.shtml?tid=12

• Dave Mitchell (UK) gets refund from Dell UK: http://www.networkworld.com/news/2006/110706-dell-windows.html

• Strategy for getting a refund in the US (by Steve Qualline, Linuxjournal, 2003) http://linuxjournal.com/article/7040

• Refunding Windows-Tax in Belgium: Experiences of people seeking their Windows-Tax-Refund in Belgium

• Belgian attempt to get reimbursed for a Toshiba: http://wiki.open-minds.org/vente_liee:historique_remboursement_bundle_logiciel_portege_r500

• CZ: Lenovo fails to silence GNU/Linux user on Windows refund: http://osor.eu/news/cz-lenovo-fails-to-silence-gnu-linux-user-on-windows-refund

• Article about refund strategy: http://www.linux.com/articles/59381

Germany

We are currently gathering information. Please add information here or write an e-mail to germany@fsfeurope.org.

Lenovo

• 2007-?: Michael Voigt reports a successful refund in Germany. The refund is 30€ and this forum entry describes how to handle the IBM/Lenovo refund procedure (german only).

• 2008-08-17: Matthias Kirschner got 30 EUR with the same form as discribed in Michael Voigt's refund for a Microsoft Vista License

• 2008-10-?: Hanno Böck failed with a Microsoft Vista refund http://hboeck.de/archives/658-Lenovo,-Linux-and-Windows-refunding.html with the same form as Matthias and Michael

Dell

• Marcus Dapp (CH) got refund from Dell Germany.