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Vista Capable? Maybe. Microsoft? Not So Much
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| So far, Ballmer has employed the Sergeant Schultz "I know nothink" defence.
|
| Attorneys for the litigants want to find out what Ballmer didn't know and
| when he didn't know it. Of particular interest is what Ballmer and Intel
| honcho Paul Otellini discussed in a phone call back in January 2006, when
| Intel was chomping at the bit to get Microsoft to change its labeling
| requirements.
|
| [...]
|
| Like OJ, Microsoft might yet win the case -- despite what the evidence
| suggests. When you can afford to hire Wolfram & Hart as your attorneys, you
| can fend off anything but the apocalypse. But in the minds of anyone who's
| read those emails, they've already lost. And ultimately that's the bigger
| battle.
`----
http://www.pcworld.com/article/154476/vista_capable_ms.html?tk=rss_news
"Government attorneys accuse Microsoft of using its monopoly position to bully,
bribe and attempt to collude with others in the industry, while illegally
expanding and protecting its Windows franchise."
http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=20010629&slug=microtimeline29
The antitrust case: a timeline
Recent:
Ballmer ordered to testify in 'Vista' case
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| A federal judge ordered Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer to testify in a
| class-action lawsuit revolving around Microsoft's marketing prior to the
| launch of its Windows Vista operating system.
`----
http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/microsoft/archives/155137.asp
Microsoft moves to quash 'Vista Capable' case, end flood of embarrassing
e-mails
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| Microsoft Corp. asked a federal judge yesterday to end the class-action
| lawsuit that has been the source of a treasure trove of embarrassing insider
| e-mails that have showed the company bent to pressure from Intel Corp. and
| infuriated longtime partner Hewlett-Packard Co.
`----
http://computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9121140
Another big batch of Microsoft e-mails
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| More internal Microsoft e-mails were unsealed today in the Windows Vista
| Capable lawsuit, detailing the wrangling that took place inside the company
| and across the industry before and after the operating system's January 2007
| launch. The plaintiffs are using the messages to support their contention
| that Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer was involved enough in decisions to warrant
| a deposition.
`----
http://www.techflash.com/microsoft/Another_big_batch_of_Microsoft_e-mails34836844.html
Microsoft seeks to end Vista lawsuit
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| Documents turned over in the case show Microsoft executives opposing a
| decision to lower the standards for the Vista Capable designation, with
| former Windows chief Jim Allchin saying in one e-mail that he believed the
| Vista Capable program would mislead consumers.
`----
http://www.techflash.com/microsoft/Microsoft_tries_to_end_Vista_Capable_suit34847394.html
Grammar check optional for Microsoft boss Steve Ballmer
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| Newly-released emails in the Microsoft 'Vista capable' lawsuit not only
| demonstrate that Microsoft managed to piss off HP as well as Dell with its
| confused approach, but that people who are running busy companies don't have
| time for full stops.
|
| [...]
|
| Quite frankly, this reads more like an MSN chat transcript than a CEO trying
| to resolve a potentially major partner crisis. Memo to Steve:
|
| * Full stops can make it much easier to read sentences.
| * Please avoid meaningless phrases like "I am not even in the detail of
| the issues".
| * Outlook has had a spelling and grammar checking facility for some time;
| using it more often might be sensible. After all, you never know when
| internal email might end up in a court document these days.
`----
http://apcmag.com/Content.aspx?id=3203
Microsoft Was Worried About Mac Besting Vista in '05
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| According to some newly released court documents in the "Vista Capable"
| class-action lawsuit, Microsoft was worried about comparisons between its
| newest OS and the Mac OS before Vista was even out, and before Apple starting
| joking about it ("Redmond, start your photocopiers.")
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http://www.pcworld.com/article/154279/.html?tk=rss_news
Court filing: HP's Hurd complained to Ballmer about rocky Vista upgrades
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| In an e-mail message after Windows Vista's release, Hewlett-Packard Chief
| Executive Mark Hurd complained to Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer about the
| computer maker's "call lines being overrun" with customers' Windows Vista
| upgrade problems, according to a court filing made public late Wednesday in
| the Windows Vista Capable lawsuit.
`----
http://www.techflash.com/microsoft/Court_filing_HPs_Hurd_complained_to_Ballmer_about_rocky_Vista_upgrades34816719.html
Time To Step Up, Steve
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| What did Ballmer know and when did he know it?
|
| That's arguably the biggest question in the Microsoft "Vista Capable"
| class-action lawsuit being heard by a federal judge in a Seattle court.
| Documents unsealed last Thursday imply that the Microsoft CEO was in on the
| decision two years ago to lower technical requirements for its Vista
| operating system as a favor to chipmaker Intel, which pressured the software
| giant to slap "Vista Capable" stickers on PCs with Intel 915 chipsets,
| hardware that lacked the firepower to run the full Vista feature set.
|
| Intel allegedly stood to lose "billions" of dollars if Microsoft stuck to its
| original specs because the chipmaker would have been stuck with a whole bunch
| of the Vista-inadequate 915s. And while Microsoft's concern for Intel's
| quarterly earnings results was touching in that corporate bottom-line kind of
| way, the impact on consumers was less than heart-warming.
`----
http://blog.datamation.com/blog/2008/11/time-to-step-up.html
E-mails show Microsoft's internal reaction to Walt Mossberg column
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| "You also won’t have to worry about Vista if you buy one of Apple Computer’s
| Macintosh computers, which don’t run Windows," Mossberg wrote. "Every
| mainstream consumer doing typical tasks should consider the Mac. Its
| operating system, called Tiger, is better and much more secure than Windows
| XP, and already contains most of the key features promised for Vista."
`----
http://www.techflash.com/microsoft/E-mails_show_Microsofts_internal_reaction_to_Walt_Mossberg_column34674309.html
More inside dirt coming in Vista suit?
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| Microsoft is opposing the Ballmer deposition and that proposed method of
| distribution. But based on the principles applied previously in the case, it
| appears likely that many of the documents will be unsealed.
`----
http://www.techflash.com/microsoft/More_inside_dirt_in_Vista_case33861109.html
Call between CEOs questioned in Vista case
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| Plaintiffs' lawyers in the 'Vista Capable' case want to know what Steve
| Ballmer said to Intel CEO Paul Otellini during a phone conversation the two
| men had on the same day that Microsoft decided to loosen the requirements
| needed for a PC to get a 'Vista Capable' sticker.
`----
http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/microsoft/archives/151674.asp?source=rss
Microsoft tries to avoid Ballmer deposition in Vista suit
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| Microsoft Corp. Chief Executive Steve Ballmer is the subject of a new legal
| squabble in a lawsuit over the company's Windows Vista marketing practices.
`----
http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/stories/2008/09/29/daily37.html
Vista Capable plaintiffs subpoena PC titans
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| Other notable names on the list include Intel and former Windows chief Jim
| Allchin.
`----
http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/microsoft/archives/135018.asp
Microsoft tries to stop more ‘Vista-capable’ e-mails from going public
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| Microsoft is trying to put the kibosh on more of its internal (and
| embarassing) e-mail messages around its Vista marketing plans going public.
|
| [...]
|
| With every version of Windows, Microsoft has worked with hardware partners to
| find new ways to try to convince users they need more and more powerful
| machines to take advantage of more feature-rich software. If Microsoft and
| its partners were/are successful, it means more money in the PC makers’ and
| Microsoft’s coffers. With Vista, this pact really back-fired, as the already
| published e-mails around Vista-capable — and more, as-yet-unpublicized
| messages — will make evident.
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http://blogs.zdnet.com/microsoft/?p=1254
Microsoft challenges 'Vista Capable' class action
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| If granted, the motion would also postpone any new disclosures of potentially
| embarrassing company e-mails.
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http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9067400
They Criticized Vista. And They Should Know.
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| Act 1: In 2005, Microsoft plans to say that only PCs that are properly
| equipped to handle the heavy graphics demands of Vista are “Vista Ready.”
|
| Act 2: In early 2006, Microsoft decides to drop the graphics-related hardware
| requirement in order to avoid hurting Windows XP sales on low-end machines
| while Vista is readied. (A customer could reasonably conclude that Microsoft
| is saying, Buy Now, Upgrade Later.) A semantic adjustment is made: Instead of
| saying that a PC is “Vista Ready,” which might convey the idea that, well, it
| is ready to run Vista, a PC will be described as “Vista Capable,” which
| supposedly signals that no promises are made about which version of Vista
| will actually work.
|
| The decision to drop the original hardware requirements is accompanied by
| considerable internal protest. The minimum hardware configuration was set so
| low that “even a piece of junk will qualify,” Anantha Kancherla, a Microsoft
| program manager, said in an internal e-mail message among those recently
| unsealed, adding, “It will be a complete tragedy if we allowed it.”
|
| Act 3: In 2007, Vista is released in multiple versions, including “Home
| Basic,” which lacks Vista’s distinctive graphics. This placed Microsoft’s
| partners in an embarrassing position. Dell, which gave Microsoft a postmortem
| report that was also included among court documents, dryly
| remarked: “Customers did not understand what ‘Capable’ meant and expected
| more than could/would be delivered.”
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http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/09/business/09digi.html?_r=2&pagewanted=2&oref=slogin
Microsoft knew of Vista shortcoming prior to release
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/microsoft-knew-vista-shortcoming-prior/story.aspx?guid=%7B75BE59C7%2DEFA1%2D48B5%2DB4A4%2D90F5E01A52A0%7D&siteid=yhoof
Microsoft dropped Vista hardware spec to raise Intel profits
http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2008/03/01/microsoft_intel_vista_capable_emails/
Microsoft 'Caves' To Intel
http://www.forbes.com/2008/02/28/microsoft-vista-intel-tech-ebiz-cx_wt_0228vista.html?partner=yahootix
Has Vista lost all credibility?
http://apcmag.com/8344/has_vista_lost_all_credibility
E-mail: Microsoft 'botched' dealings with Intel, HP
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| Internal Microsoft e-mails revealed through a federal class-action lawsuit
| arising from the troubled launch last year of the Windows Vista operating
| system have provided a provocative inside look at the software giant's
| machinations with Intel, HP and Dell.
|
| The e-mails include an exchange in which one senior Microsoft executive
| described dealings with computer makers as "really botched." Another manager
| complained Microsoft was "caving to Intel" and "really burning HP."
|
| The e-mails are included in 145 pages of documents unsealed by U.S. District
| Judge Marsha Pechman in Seattle late Wednesday. They include internal
| reports and some handwritten notes that offer a rare look inside at the
| famed "Wintel" partnership, and touch upon the alliance's dealings with
| Hewlett-Packard, Dell and other computer makers.
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http://origin.mercurynews.com/businessheadlines/ci_8417811?nclick_check=1
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