User paid to uninstall Windows XP

A UK man has won a refund from Dell for not installing Microsoft's Windows XP on a laptop he bought from the PC giant, writes BBCNews.

Freelance programmer Dave Mitchell was planning to run the Linux open source operating system on a Dell laptop he bought in October, and said he had no need for the copy of Windows XP Home that had been pre-installed.

He clicked the box that said "no" on the Windows licence agreement that asked him to agree to its terms. The text of this agreement states users can get a refund for the "unused products" on their new computer if they get in touch with the machine's manufacturer. The total refund was for lb55.23, evidently the value of a pre-installed version of Windows XP Home.

Microsoft's Internet Explorer has been named one of the Internet's top 20 hacker targets by the SANS Institute security organisation, writes Silicon.Com.

Although Microsoft Office and Windows Libraries and Services were also highlighted, the company was not alone on the annual list, with Apple's Mac OS X also catalogued, along with "configuration weaknesses" in Unix.

"SANS also named Web applications, P2P file-sharing software, media players, VOIP phones and people themselves as some of the easiest targets for hackers," continues the article.

Recent RFID trials show mixed results for the technology. London-based retailer Marks & Spencer declared its 42-store test a success, while Cardinal Health (also involved in a test) says a "great deal of additional work needs to be undertaken" before RFID becomes practical.

An article in e-week reveals that item-level RFID tagging will hit an additional 80 Marks & Spencer stores in the spring of 2007.

However, a Cardinal Health executive said: "While our pilot demonstrated that using UHF RFID technology at the unit, case and pallet level is feasible for track and trace purposes, a great deal of additional work needs to be undertaken by stakeholders across the industry to address significant challenges."