would be impressed
At someone who can build his own high-end laptop. :D
However, I think the key here is that he wanted to be paid the cost of a retail copy of windows for not using part of a bundle; during that era, the OS often had negative cost (given the company would be paid to include trial copies of office, antivirus etc which could come to more than the oem cost of the OS ) and many vendors had contracts *requiring* all machines to be preinstalled with the software in order to get a per-copy discount.
Nothing in this solution stopped him wiping off windows and installing an OS of his choice - this is purely an attempt to get money for having done so. In that respect, it is a lot like ordering a serving of neapolitan ice cream in a restaurant because you want the chocolate and strawberry, and demanding a refund for the vanilla you didn't eat
Biting the hand that feeds IT
