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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!
General information
Article about refund strategy: http://www.linux.com/articles/59381
To prevent trouble with refund there are some tipps how to buy hardware without Microsoft Tax on the hardware vendor's page.
Fabian Thommen ordered a Dell without XP from the very beginning (no refund necessary) http://rca.snm-hgkz.ch/blog/windows-refunds/
Serge Wroclawski gives a counterpoint for any excuses the vendor might have http://community.linux.com/community/07/01/03/227237.shtml?tid=12
Information for specific countries
France
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.
UK
Dave Mitchell (UK) gets refund from Dell UK: http://www.networkworld.com/news/2006/110706-dell-windows.html
United States
Strategy for getting a refund in the US (by Steve Qualline, Linuxjournal, 2003) http://linuxjournal.com/article/7040
Belgium
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
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
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.