Thanks waf for the welcome,

Take care.

Hi folks,

I wanted to just add a twist to the original post.
I have  an 8-year old Toshiba Satellite laptop that has XP-Pro on it. But it is time for a change, and soon I am going to buy a new one. I have been  hearing so many good things about Pardus and I am excited to try it out.  On the other hand,  I do not want to pay for any kind of Microsoft product that comes with a new laptop.

I found a decade old page , where somebody shares an experience about getting a refund from a never installed Windows software that came with the laptop.  He tries hard, but it is a happy -ending story.
http://www.netcraft.com.au/geoffrey/toshiba.html

Has anybody of you have a similar experience with Toshiba , Sony or other manufacturers, where you get the laptop with Windows, and then able to return the software  for a refund before an initial boot?  Does it matter whether it is Europe or US?

Thanks