14 DAY TRIAL // Windows Vista continues to generate problems for Microsoft. Following the lawsuit over the Vista-capable campaign, which has been granted class-action status, another legal action was filed against the company, also looking to become a class-action suit, and also centered on Vista. Emma Alvarado is suing Microsoft for the downgrade fee she had to pay in order to have Windows Vista removed from a new Lenovo laptop she acquired and Windows XP installed instead. A $59.25 downgrade charge has generated a lawsuit that aims for unspecified financial damages.
“Consumers have encountered numerous problems using the Vista operating system, and these problems have been widely publicized in various media outlets. As a result, many consumers would prefer to purchase a new computer pre-installed with the Windows XP operating system or at least not pre-installed with the Vista operating system,” reads an excerpt of the suit according to Seattle PI. “However, Microsoft has used its market power to take advantage of consumer demand for the Windows XP operating system by requiring consumers to purchase computers pre-installed with the Vista operating system and to pay additional sums to 'downgrade' to the Windows XP operating system.”
The class-action lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Seattle on Wednesday, and Microsoft has yet to be served, and as a direct action, to comment on the matter. According to the complaint, the Redmond company is accused of violating the state's Unfair Business Practices Act and the Consumer Protection Act. The legal action alleges that the software giant indulged in "an unlawful trust in restraint of trade and commerce" and that it abused its near-monopolist position in order to make consumers pay "supra-competitive prices" for XP.
Consumers “have been forced to pay substantially more to acquire the Windows XP operating system than they would have to pay in a competitive marketplace in which there were available alternative operating systems,” the lawsuit adds.