It seems Emma Alvarado got rather ticked off when she was asked to pay an additional US$59.25 for "" to XP when she purchased a new Lenovo laptop. So she rounded up a lawyer (or vice versa) and headed to court.

Now I'm all for suing Microsoft just on general principles. The has been an absolute gift to those of us in the snark trade. It's offered an eye-opening view inside the machinations of both Microsoft (whose own employees complained long and loud about Vista's shortcomings) and longtime partners like HP, which got royally rogered when Microsoft (allegedly) changed its labeling rules to favor Intel.

That trial . I'll be eagerly watching from the sidelines with my popcorn and Jujubees.

Alvarado's lawsuit, on the other hand, I'm not so sure about. She's seeking "compensatory damages." I'm no Greta Van Susteren, but wouldn't compensatory damages for having to spend $59.25 on "downgrading" be, oh, I don't know ... $59.25? Couldn't they just cut her a check and be done with it?

(I suspect that this suit is actually the brainchild of Alvarado's lawyer, who hunted around until he found an aggrieved party willing to pursue it. Just a hunch.)