People are used to the idea of paying slightly over the odds to have a copy of Windows pre-installed on their new computer. It saves time, it saves effort, and you’re pretty much guaranteed to want to install it on there anyway.

Trouble is, Linux is growing in popularity these days, and paying extra for a Windows license that you’ll never use seems like a complete waste of money. Thankfully a little-known piece of small print in the Windows EULA means that you actually don’t have to pay this “Windows Tax” and a lot of people are claiming it back – people including Czech linux user Kamil Paral, who recently tried to exercise his right to a refund from Lenovo.

Well, as it happens, Lenovo were more than happy to pay up the $130 license cost – provided he signed an NDA (Non Disclosure Agreement) to guarantee that he wouldn’t tell anyone. Of course he declined, and told the guys at ABCLinux.cz, who promptly paid him the $130 for his story anyway.

The question is, why on earth would Lenovo not want the guy telling people that they have the right to a refund on their Windows license? Is the administration too much hassle for them, or is something more sinister afoot… Like a little financial incentive from Microsoft?

As is always the case in these situations, more people are going to find out than if they’d just ponied up the cash and left it at that. So if you’re buying a brand new laptop and you’re never going to use the copy of Windows that comes preinstalled, make sure you exercise your legal right to a refund.

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