Well, Microsoft’s in the legal crosshairs yet again. This time, the software giant’s being sued for the fees computer buyers have to pay to get XP installed on their new systems instead of Vista.

The lawsuit, filed in a Seattle federal court last Wednesday, stems from the $59.25  fee that a California woman had to pay when  she bought a Lenovo laptop and wanted to get XP instead of  Vista, which came with the machine.

Microsoft protests that it doesn’t get any added royalty if customers request a downgrade. It is the computer makers, not Microsoft, who charge users additional fees for downgrading a new PC from Vista to XP, they say.

It isn’t exactly true that Microsoft doesn’t profit from their downgrade policy, however. Only buyers of PCs with pre-installed editions of Vista Business and Vista Ultimate are allowed to downgrade, and then only to Windows XP Professional. All three editions are higher priced versions of the OS.

“Customers have been forced to purchase the most expensive version [of Windows XP] in order to ‘downgrade’ from the Windows Vista operating system,” the complaint read.

And plenty of folks are taking advantage of the downgrade policy. To date, only 10% of enterprise users have adopted Vista. XP still has a 71% share of the North American and European business PC.

Doesn’t it tell Microsoft something that its “new and improved” operating system is being so roundly and enthusiastically rejected that folks are willing to pay to avoid it?

And should they have to? If I want last year’s model of an automobile, should I have to pay more for it because I don’t like the features on this year’s model?

Even if Microsoft’s licensing arrangements aren’t illegal, aren’t they kind of dumb? If consumers/customers like your old product better than your new one, it might not be a bad idea to re-think your sales and marketing models.

As it is, seems to many folks like Microsoft are trying to avoid taking their  lumps for creating an unpopular product.

Coca Cola certainly learned that lesson quickly. Maybe the Microsoft folks are just slow learners.

Tags: downgrade, lawsuit, Microsoft, operating system, Vista, XP