Android on an Acer

[neu5eeCh]

Thought the following might be of interest:

http://distrowatch.com/weekly.php?issue=20101011#feature

What especially struck me was the fact that a user is forced to accept the Windows licensing agreement before they can access or use Android. In other words, this prevents a user from using Android instead of Windows. In other words, there will be no calls to Acer or MS demanding refunds because Windows isn't needed. If you use Android, you have to buy windows. This probably has something to do with Acer's licensing agreement.

But...

And though I'm no lawyer, this sounds fishy. If I had to put money on it, I'd bet the EU would beg to differ.

At Issue (and I know it might be theoretical): Does Acer or Microsoft have the right to force your 'ownership' of a license (XP) even if one isn't going to use XP?

[Dr. C]

Why not refuse the XP EULA, demand a refund, and then install Android on the device or a GNU / Linux distribution?

[neu5eeCh]

Why not refuse the XP EULA, demand a refund, and then install Android on the device or a GNU / Linux distribution?

Yes, and that's exactly what I would do.

But I was more wondering at the legality of the whole thing. If the computer is being presented as offering a choice between two OS's (and I'm not sure it is) then I would wonder at the legality of forcing a user to accept XP as intrinsic to the computer - like it or not.