A lawsuit filed against Microsoft this week alleges that the company's monopoly status forced a consumer to have to pay extra to downgrade her new Windows Vista laptop to Windows XP. Plaintiff Emma Alvarado filed the class-action lawsuit, which among other things says that "… 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." Seattle Post-Intelligencer
The lawsuit, filed in US District Court (under the same Judge Pechman who is hearing the Vista-Capable lawsuit against Microsoft), says the result of Microsoft's alleged monopoly is that "Plaintiff and other members of the Class have suffered injury to their property as a result of Defendants’ monopoly power and anti-competitive activities because they have been, and continue to be, forced to purchase Vista rather than alternative operating systems software."
Related Reading: "Microsoft Will Not Extend XP Lifecycle Again: Here's What's Really Happening"
