Lindows muscles in on Microsoft $1 billion settlement

The company announced the "MSfreePC" program (www.MSfreePC.com), described as "a web service designed to help Microsoft customers process their settlement claims from the $1.1 billion settlement Microsoft has agreed to pay." The deal sounds enticing on the face of it. "You may be eligible for a FREE PC and allowed to purchase up to $100 worth of software paid for by Microsoft!", it reads.

That refers to a settlement reached earlier this year, after a California court ordered the Vole to pay up to $1100 millon greenbacks to consumers, over a five-year period, due to Microsoft's practice of overcharging for Windows, as we reported here .

In reality, the "free pc" and "free money" that the site talks about seem to be actually some credit to buy a LindowsOS PC, in order to trade with Lindows Inc. the right to collect the settlement money from Microsoft on your behalf. A disclaimer on the site reads: "Your "Instant Settlement" is the credit that Lindows.com will give to you to immediately purchase products using the MSfreePC program in exchange for the right to process your settlement claim on your behalf"

I can imagine the joyful face of Dancing Steve Ballmer, when he realises he has to hand a big check to Lindows.com, instead of mailing thousands of small checks to individual Joe Doe(s).

It will be interesting to see what Microsoft lawyers have to say about this, and how much interest this program will get from consumers. Whatever the outcome one thing is certain: Michael Robertson seems to have one key ability other IT execs lack, which is to give Ballmer headaches with his rapid moves, while delivering a very attractive desktop linux distro at the same time. µ