When Windows Vista was released to market on January 30th, 2007, Microsoft gave consumers the option to downgrade to Windows XP if they were not satisfied with the new operating system. However charging consumers $59.25 to downgrade to a different operating system has stirred some trouble for Microsoft.
A Los Angeles resident, Emma Alvarado, has filed a class action lawsuit in the US District Court of the Western District of Washington in Seattle. The plaintiff is not demanding anything but a refund because the company charged her for downgrading her Lenovo PC from Windows Vista to Windows XP Professional. According to the lawsuit, Microsoft charging consumers to downgrade to a different operating system due to dissatisfaction violates Washington state"s Unfair Business Practices Act and the Consumer Protection Act by "operating an unlawful trust that limited competition and inflated prices for Vista and XP, and kept PC makers from pre-installing XP."
Alvardo is also inviting other consumers who had to pay to downgrade to a different version of Windows to join the law suit. More information about joining the law suit can be found here.
Microsoft spokesman, David Bowermaster, said the company hasn"t been served with the lawsuit so he could not comment at this time.