Microsoft ‘misled’ Vista Capable buyers: lawsuit
p2pnet news | Products:- It’ll be another ten days before we learn if class-action status will be awarded to an action claiming Microsoft knowingly misled people by letting PC makers plaster "Windows Vista Capable" stickers on PCs when in fact they could run only the most bare-bones version.
Nor were consumers the only people complaining.
During a hearing, plaintiffs’ lawyer Jeffrey Tilden, "quoted from numerous internal e-mails that appeared to show that employees within Microsoft had misgivings about the ‘Windows Vista Capable’ campaign," says the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, going on:
"Even a piece of junk will qualify" for the "Windows Vista Capable" designation, wrote one employee in an e-mail that Tilden read out loud.
Another employee, Mike Nash, currently a corporate vice president for Windows product management, wrote in an e-mail, "I PERSONALLY got burnt. … Are we seeing this from a lot of customers? … I now have a $2,100 e-mail machine."
Jim Allchin, then the co-president of Microsoft’s Platforms and Services Division, wrote in another e-mail, "We really botched this. … You guys have to do a better job with our customers."
Microsoft, "downplayed the significance of the e-mail exchanges," says the report, but, "The e-mails cited in today’s hearing are isolated, and in many instances, outdated and really just snippets of a broad and thorough review that took place during the development of the Windows Vista Capable program," it has Microsoft spokesman asserting.
Windows Vista Capable was part of a campaign run by Microsoft, "to maintain sales of Windows XP computers during the 2006 holiday shopping season after Vista was delayed," says the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
"A new PC running Windows XP that carries the Windows Vista Capable PC logo can run Windows Vista," states Microsoft site flatly, going on:
"All editions of Windows Vista will deliver core experiences such as innovations in organizing and finding information, security, and reliability. All Windows Vista Capable PCs will run these core experiences at a minimum."
But, "Some features available in the premium editions of Windows Vista – like the new Windows Aero user experience – may require advanced or additional hardware."
Also See:
Seattle Post-Intelligencer – Suit says Microsoft knew it misled, February 8, 2008
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February 11th, 2008 at 1:50 pm
This lawsuit has no basis. How do I know? Because I force-fed Vista Ultimate on a happless Pentium 2 350MHz machine with an ATI 9800 Pro, 512MB RAM & 20GB hard disc fitted and it ran perfectly, with the full Aero interface – a machine that falls *well below* the official minimum spec you’ll note.
Naturally, it ran like molasses, being only a 350MHz machine, but run it did and reliably, too.
Therefore, any PC with a DX9 card is certified to run Ultimate, let alone the lower versions.
The lawsuit will fail.
February 11th, 2008 at 2:33 pm
I feel sorry for the hapless Pen 2, but good for you
February 11th, 2008 at 7:31 pm
1998 – “I just bought a new OS for my computer!”
2008 – “I just bought a new computer for my OS!”
What’s wrong with this picture?
February 11th, 2008 at 7:47 pm
Walmart is the worlds worst about this. I got a family a new computer with vista on it, think it was really good specs (they are on xp), and it runs like shit.
February 11th, 2008 at 10:11 pm
Knowing what to look for, I saw those in Wallyworld and sort of laughed as I went by. Emachines with less than a gig of ram, claiming to be Vista compliant. Was a come on if ever I saw one. Didn’t waste the money on something I knew would not cut the mustard.
But your right about Walmart. I sort of think they believe their customers can’t tell the difference when it comes to what specs a computer needs to run what programs. I also believe that they think their customers the bottom rung when it comes to selling them something that won’t be satisfactory. Like the potential customer is a noob or something.
February 11th, 2008 at 11:29 pm
This wasnt an emachine. It’s (i think from memory) 3200 dual core (or higher) with 1.5gb of ram and a 300 gig hd. runs like shite
February 12th, 2008 at 1:13 am
Window Vista on a pentium II running fine? You must be kiding! At what speed? This thing is turning into a snail the fastest duo-core processor in town with all the DRM crap they put on this thing! If you want speed with a 3D interface (although this is kind of useless) run Tubunktu linux! So much faster!
February 12th, 2008 at 1:22 am
“1998 – “I just bought a new OS for my computer!
2008 – “I just bought a new computer for my OS!”
I am now running window 2K on a AMD Athlon 64 duo-core with 2gb Ram and a 300gb HD.
This thing is screaming fast! And what if I was running a 64 bits OS on it!
Before I was running Widows 98 on the same machine: Screaming fast too!
I know that if I was installing vista I will get nothing else but more enoyance and snail speed.
My next OS upgrade will be some version of Linux 64 not Vista.
Sorry MS!
February 12th, 2008 at 3:32 am
My main quibble with Vista is that it needs at least twice as much time as XP does to preen out all the garbage even a computer noob doesn’t need (the constant ‘are you sure’ to everything is incredibly patronising as well as infuriating) It is even more obfuscated than the previous OS, as if someone at Microsoft doesn’t want you to find where any of these settings are.
“Are you sure you know what you want to do today?”
“Are you sure you clicked the right answer to are you sure you know what you want to do today?”
Arrgh.
The second quibble is the same as it was for 3.1 -> 95 and 95 -> 2000/XP.
Each progressive upgrade does fix a lot of ‘problems’, but it also slows the machine down.
It doesn’t matter if your computer is the most powerful you can afford, slowness is built into the very user experience, if not through halting pop ups and jellied eye-candy, through over protective file systems or checks on activities.
The third is hardware support.
When I eventually moved to XP (98 was sooooo crap) there were two vital pieces of hardware that NEVER, even to this day, had drivers written for 2000/XP, even though the products were still for sale at the cross over time. This is the only way people will be forced to adopt Vista. When the new hardware released drops support for the old OS….
I predict 2010 may be the year I move to Vista.
But only if all the crap has been stripped out, or is optionally installed.
The only way I see that happening is by downloading a hacked and leaner version.
Oh well.
Better luck next time Bill.
February 12th, 2008 at 4:05 am
@Reader’s Write Says:
February 12th, 2008 at 1:13 am
Indeed it did run fine, just very slow, as I said. I used this extreme example to make the point that any old PC is “Vista capable/ready/whatever”. All modern PC’s are of course, vastly faster than my poor tortured P2 and come with at least DX9 graphics, hence all are Vista capable.
February 12th, 2008 at 6:29 am
I wouldn’t worry to much about issues with Vista, everybody. Once SP1 has been out a while and XP sales & support has expired, you will all be using Vista and support for it will be 100%. We’ll make sure of that.
February 12th, 2008 at 12:45 pm
Okay Bill. How’s not working at Microsoft going? Working out still?
February 12th, 2008 at 11:51 pm
This is not even the main concern.
The REAL lawsuits will be brought against Microsoft when enough people complain about the illegal Trusted Computing Platform, & the Windows Genuine Advantage, Product Activation & many other things.
The reason they are illegal, is that they are treating ALL people as guilty until proven innocent. People are being locked out of using their own pc’s with their own license codes by hackers who activate using a keygen that generates the same key (getting the legit user banned).
In addition, what happens when product activation servers go down? That’s right. No-one can activate, legal or not! Microsoft is in essence, controlling what YOU DO with what you BUY & own.
Imagine if cars came with “license” agreements that after you buy them, the car industry is in control of where you go and what you do, after all, they invented the car, so it is THEIR intellectual property, not yours.
Even after you bought it….
In addition, since Microsoft is treating BUYERS as RENTERS, then they are illegally misleading the consumers, this is FALSE ADVERTISING!
I will be glad when someone gets the gonads to take it to them in a class lawsuit!
February 14th, 2008 at 11:57 am
I’m just sick of this MS crap. I only have one PC that still runs Windows, and it’s XP.
The simple fact is, Linux and Macs don’t have the problems MS does. Everyone knows that if you have a windows machine you need to have anti-virus, anti-spyware, a top of the line machine to get minimum performance, and have to protecct your back-up disks or partition as if it were your first born (which they only work if you don’t change any hardware in your system).
Recently I’ve been using Linux as a desktop OS. Obviously it has issues of its own, but I like the fact that I don’t get tons of spyware and viruses and that if my system crashes, I can readily download the OS from the internet. And people who don’t think Linux can be graphical and pretty like Vista? Go take a look at compiz-fusion. Let’s see Vista’s Aero do THAT.
March 9th, 2008 at 8:10 am
I’ve been using XP on my 3 1/2 year laptop and I must say that XP is the best version of windows that I’ve ever used. I’ve never used Vista before but listening to all the reports about I’m going to just take a wait and see atitude with it heck I might even get linux as my next OS take that Bill!!