I found this on another site, figured it would be of interest to many:

"If you purchased a new computer recently and decided to replace the bundled WindowsXP operating system with another OS, such as Linux, you may be able to get a refund on Windows. This site shows an example. I guess it makes sense, since almost every new computer these days comes with Windows regardless of the buyer's desired operating system. Although it looks like a tremendous amount of effort, you may be able to get a $200 refund on your recent computer purchase. Remember, Microsoft is losing a lot of antitrust battles, so if you don't like the operating system that your computer came with, you can get a refund, it just depends on how much effort is worth $200."

I went round and round with Gateway when I bought my laptop from them in 99 about this. I finally gave up and sold the software at a local store, since Gateway at the time bundeled the full OS CDs with their computers, and OEM CDs wern't locked down yet.

One thought:

Can I get a refund on my Sony OEM install of Windows XP Home, considering that I've replaced it with a (licensed) retail copy of Windows XP Pro?

It runs Linux as well.

Can I get a refund on my Sony OEM install of Windows XP Home, considering that I've replaced it with a (licensed) retail copy of Windows XP Pro?

Yes, assuming you never booted XP Home past the license agreement screen. This was actually my situation with Gateway. I wanted to never run Windows 98 on it, and instead wanted Windows 2000. I had a legal copy of 2000 I wan going to use, and when I first got the laptop, I simply tossed in the CD to load it.

But did you actually get the refund ? I wonder if I could get a refund on my japanese version of XP home that came with my Sony U101

But did you actually get the refund ?

Nope, never did, as I decided it wasn't worth the trouble comapred to just reselling the software.