Twist on the “Free Vista Notebooks!”

So here’s the controversy: Microsoft decided to give away free (very NICE) Acer Ferrari 1000 notebooks with Vista pre-loaded to some bloggers to get a “buzz” going about Vista. A) Not a bad marketing plan, B) Wonder why they didn’t send me one? (Hummmmmm… OK, maybe I know why!) But one blogger they sent the notebook to is auctioning it off, with the proceeds to go to the EFF! Ohhh… that is cool! The EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation) is a donor-funded non-profit and depends on contributions to support it’s efforts to defend our digital rights. Gotta love that!

Windows Vista Laptop on eBay, Proceeds Going To EFF

“So regarding my infamous Acer Ferrari 1000 Windows Vista laptop (one of several sent to bloggers which are stirring up a quite a bit of controversy), I think the best thing to do at this point is auction it off on eBay and donate the proceeds from the auction to one of my favorite non-profits, The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF). Honestly, I’m not really the right person to do a proper review of Windows Vista and at this point, it is still unclear why I was even selected to receive it, not to mention the fact that there has been quite a bit of inconsistency regarding what Microsoft, AMD and Edelman wanted people to do with the laptop after they were done testing it. Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate being included, but now I think it’s time to move on. I’ll purchase the Windows Vista upgrade when it comes out as I had originally planned on doing. I’m starting the auction today (in the US only) and it will end in 7 days on January 4th. This will give me some more time to test out the laptop some more and see what Windows Vista is like, before it is sold to someone who will really benefit from having it, possibly even someone who will be able to give it a proper review.”

Oh, by the way, Microsoft NOW claims (since the whole controversy started in the “blogosphere” that they were only LENDING the notebooks to bloggers. They now want them back! Talk about making a bad move worse!

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