"Does anyone think for one moment that Microsoft would
have ever made this offer if it hadn't for the community Linux
desktop distributions? I can't imagine it.
"Of course, there's nothing 'free' about Microsoft's Windows 7
RC offer. If you own a Vista PC, you already paid for the operating
system once. If you're going to buy a new PC for Windows 7, chances
are, again, you'll be paying Microsoft for Vista anyway. You may
have hated Vista. You may never use Vista, but you almost always
end up paying Microsoft $50 to $100 on any new PC. Linux users know
all about this Microsoft tax."