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Time To Step Up, Steve
,----[ Quote ]
| 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
"LH [Longhorn] is a pig and I don't see any solution to this problem. If we are
to rise to the challenge of Linux..."
--Jim Allchin, Microsoft
Recent:
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.
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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.
`----
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.”
`----
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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