rabbitoid: The windows idea was created by other companies for their computers, they just nicked the concept and called theirs "Windows".. Not just Apple, but Commodore and Atari were using similar ideas before Microsoft saw the light.

France only so far... this is why the EU came down on Microsoft. And why again for something that is supposed to be with the machine? I took Microsoft to task on this regarding a law they made regarding windows which stopped a laptop manufacturer keeping copies on the laptops restart disk after a certain period of time. They admitted fault and sent me a XP disk

So why cannot it be presumes that Windows came with a PC/laptop and replacements be free or for a small cost rather than having to pay a lot of money?

As to third party products... this is the point, to open up the market so the existing ones and new ones are available.

And I won't download a 'disc' that is so basic for the machine. Too much risk of things going wrong.