Upstart software company Microsoft managed to eke out a rare legal victory, as a U.S. District Court has thrown out a lawsuit alleging that Microsoft was forcing computer manufacturers to ship computers with their Vista operating system, compelling owners who want to use the earlier XP operating system to pay for the downgrade.

In Feb. 2009, a woman in Los Angeles filed suit against Microsoft after she had to pay $59.25 to have the operating system on her new Lenovo laptop downgraded from Vista to Windows XP. Microsoft has maintained that they do not receive any sort of additional payment when users decide to downgrade and that any money paid by the users is going to manufacturers and retailers. For some reason, the plaintiff did not include Lenovo in the lawsuit.

Windows XP downgrade lawsuit dismissed [ArsTechnica]

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