LinuxWorld reports on a rare incident: A Dell customer got a refund on the copy of Windows preinstalled on his laptop.

Dave Mitchell, a systems administrator who lives in the U.K., got a $105 check from Dell after laboriously documenting his refusal of the user-license agreement required to run Windows. Dell spokeswoman Anne Camden later tried to clarify matters, but just muddied the waters in follow-up comments to LinuxWorld: "It appears this was a unique response for a customer based on the individual circumstances of the customer's experience and request. Dell does not have an official program that accommodates the return of the operating system."

In other words, it looks like someone at Dell U.K. goofed. Not only did that staffer not follow normal procedures, but he or she also appears to have overpaid big-time. The $105 refund is 50% more than the average cost of a Windows license, and analysts believe that the price that Dell pays to Microsoft for a basic version of the operating system like Windows XP Home - the version installed on Mitchell's laptop - is closer to $50. No wonder PC makers find it simpler - and cheaper - to just keep on bundling Windows on PCs.