“Microsoft says it is not taking the threat of a potential
Windows revolt seriously. “We consider this a bit of a PR stunt by
some Unix guys,” says corporate spokesman Adam Sohn. “OEMs are
completely free today to ship any OS they choose. There is no
provision in any of our contracts telling OEMs they can’t ship
something else” or even a so-called “naked” system without any
operating system preloaded.”
“Microsoft also has no plans to discuss formally with OEMs
potential ramifications from a Windows Refund protest.”
“OEMs will have to make their own decisions. They are ‘adults.’
They don’t need Microsoft to tell them how to deal with their
customers,” Sohn says. He adds that if, how and when OEMs opt to
refund customers if they can prove they never used copies of
Windows that came preinstalled with their machines is up to each
individual OEM.”