Vista Price Cuts Dissected - Vista Incapable (Page 3 of 4 )
In case you don't know, there has been an ongoing lawsuit against Microsoft alleging that they intentionally misled customers by labeling PCs as "Windows Vista Capable" when in actuality they could only run on the most basic version of the OS, Vista Home Basic. The main beneficiary of the scheme, besides Microsoft, was Intel because the whole plan was supposedly set up to help Intel sell older chipsets with the 915 graphics embedded. Well recent emails from within Microsoft have added more fuel to the fire, pretty much corroborating all allegations made against them in the case.
Here are some of the more interesting emails I came across:
2-1-08 From Mike Ybarra, a senior director at Microsoft, to Jim Allchin, former director of Microsoft's Windows Division - "We are really burning HP - who committed to work with us to drive the UI experience across platforms and have already made significant investments. We are allowing Intel to drive our consumer experience...I don't understand why we would cave on this when the potential to drive the full UI experience is right in front of us." Allchin's response - "It might be a mistake."
3-1-06 A response from Anantha Kancheria, a program manager lead, regarding whether Intel's 865-based platforms would qualify as Vista capable - "Based on the criteria that exist today for Capable, even a piece of junk will qualify..."
2-14-08 From Sergio Larrian detailing the number of desktops that could run Vista Premium - "As of January, 81 percent of desktops are Windows Vista capable...only 4 percent of desktops are Windows Vista Premium capable."
The situation upset many of Microsoft's biggest clients, including Wal-Mart, Dell, and Best Buy. In another Microsoft email dated Feb. 23, Robin Leonard, a consumer sales manager, said, "[Wal-Mart] would like to see Microsoft reconsider the program and allow for the use of two different logos...They also went so far as to say that they wished that Windows Home Basic was not even in the sku line up."
These emails haven't answered all the questions yet. In the next section, I will go over some of the more important ones regarding this case.
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