It was Microsoft's second run at trying for a preliminary injunction against Lindows for trademark infringement, but it seems the judge though it was okay if Lindows - which adopted the name Linspire in April after he barred the start-up from doing business under the Lindows name - continued to use the name Lindows in some fine print provided it included the proviso that Lindows is not affiliated with Windows in any way.

Microsoft wanted every vestige of the Lindows name expunged - including its use for corporate and copyright identification purposes - and it wanted Lindows slapped with a 100,000-euro-a-day fine until it complied.

Under those circumstances, Lindows found the idea of Microsoft getting hit with a bill sweet.

The judge reasoned that if the use of the name didn't directly threaten Microsoft or take advantage of the Windows franchise it was legal. One of the reasons the judge took that position was evidently the fact that the name Lindows is still legal outside the Benelux.

Lindows can now go back to selling its operating system in the Benelux. It immediately began peddling it on its Web site and vowed to have resellers there selling it by late June.

Lindows said that to re-energize its desktop push in the Benelux, it would make the latest version of its Linspire operating system available for free via BitTorrent for a limited period of time using the coupon code free4benelux. It directed people to www.linspire.com/p2p-pr.

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