Class-action Lawsuit Blasts Microsoft's Vista Capable Designation

[Guest]

Any computer labeled "Vista Capable" can run any version of Vista... period. That includes Business and Premium and what have you. Microsoft states that even "capable" machines may not be able to run all functions of Vista. This is a well-known practice in the computer and electronics industry and is not in violation of any regulations. This lawsuit has no ground and will only reflect poorly on the US court system yet again if it actually makes it through.

 

[Woulff]

Do car commercials show the basic car? No, they show the fully loaded version.

 

[todd99jp]

The issue here is that the sticker 'vista capable' doesn't discern the system performance, but people are using it as a performance benchmark. Under this lawsuit, an 'ATI' or 'Nvidia' sticker on a computer could be false advertising to someone expecting it to automatically run the latest games. If the users still don't take initiative to understand the system's performance then it's their problem.

Sorry, no. Your example is worlds apart from the Vista case. If a PC has an 'Nvidia' sticker, and you open it up, and sure enough there is an Nvidia card inside, then the sticker accurately represented the product. That sticker makes no claims about performance. It simply states that an Nvidia product is used. Same goes with the 'Intel Inside' example someone else mentioned. These stickers do not make ANY performance claims. They simply state that a particular maker's parts are inside. So long as that's true, there is no misrepresentation.

However, the 'Vista Capable' sticker makes a PERFORMANCE claim. It explicitly says what this PC is capable of, namely, running Windows 'Vista.' It does NOT distinguish between versions of Vista, it does not list (or even offer any clue) that there are exceptions, limitations, etc. It makes a blanket claim, which in many cases, is not true unreservedly. If an advertiser makes a blanket performance based claim like this, then it should be true in all instances.

To reiterate, the 'Vista Capable' sticker makes a performance claim and is quite different than the 'Intel Inside' type stickers that just identify a brand.

 

[nachowarrior]

They only should have made one version of the crappy OS as it is, and not the 32 bit at all... They might have been able to spend more time on making the thing work right if they weren't so worried about how to get the most money out of it. Anyway. If you really think about it, there could have been a differentiation between the versions that certain hardware was capable of. labeling it either "basic" or "premium" or whatever. Having said that. I also think that it's only fair to say that "hardware certification" or whatever you want to call it, is a really stupid idea to begin with. This is why you get somebody intelligent to build your computer for you if you can't do it yourself, and good luck asking anyone at some of the bigger companies to answer intelligent questions intelligently, especially without spending 4 hours or more on the phone. 😛 The fault is not only on MS, it's on the "manufacturer" or place that you bought your PC from and it's also your own fault. Having said that, This should not be solved by a lawsuit, but by a change of where and how you buy a PC and what operating system is on it... but alas, the american public is not that smart, instead they'll just continue to support the companies that give them turds. 😛

 

[todd99jp]

Microsoft states that even "capable" machines may not be able to run all functions of Vista.

Yes, they do state that--on the Windows Vista package, but not on the PC sticker in question! A lot of people buy their PC and OS at different times. Some people probably bought a PC with the intention of continuing to use XP, or some other OS, but wanted the option to upgrade to Vista at some future time. In fact, that's how I worked my current PC (I built it myself and used XP for a while, but I made sure at the time I built it that it was totally capable of running Vista Premium for when I would upgrade). Those people, in particular, were mislead by that little 'Vista Capable' sticker. That's deceptive advertising.

This is a well-known practice in the computer and electronics industry and is not in violation of any regulations.

Your statement is valid for the disclaimer on the Windows Vista box, but is irrelevant to the question at hand, that of the sticker on the PC itself. Furthermore, much of what passes for 'well-known practice' in the computer (particularly software) industry is in very murky legal ground. European law, for example, takes a very different view of what is deemed 'legal' in the US (for the present, at least). Microsoft always seems to be skirting that line between 'acceptable practice' and 'illegal.' I'll bet most people who follow these issues would agree that Microsoft has been on the wrong side of that line many times. But they are the schoolyard bully of the computer world, and even when they're wrong they can get away with it.

 

[kal326]

Does this mean I can sue Mazda because their Mazda3 isn't as fast I thought it would be? I mean they all are suppose to be Zoom-Zoom right?

 

[jvrobert]

This is ridiculous. These machines are Vista capable. End of story. It's just some scumbag lawyers looking for a big payday, so they found some people willing to whine.

 

[Guest]

Just because a user can't run all of the extra features of Vista Premium doesn't mean the PC isn't Vista Capable. As it has been mentioned many times before, all versions of Vista can run on these machines, but some of the features may not work. This is like me trying to sue Dell because their PC said it had a 3D video card but isn't capable of rendering 3D objects in something like AutoCAD/SolidWorks.

Also, most people I know who have little to no knowledge about PCs and do get one rarely upgrade anything on their PC for a long time (3+ years).

To sum it up, Vista Capable does not mean it can run Ultimate with all the features turned on, it just means it?s capable of running Vista. Shame on Microsoft for being sly with words, but it?s a true statement.

 

[Guest]

What is wrong with this country that so many people believe their mistakes are somebody else's fault. And when is our country finally going to quit letting them think that. So much time and money is wasted in this country because of people trying to disprove the fact that for every action there is a reaction. In this case the action is a consumer buying a product without questioning or researching it and the reaction is that the consumer now owns a lower quality product then he expected. I mean the sticker doesn't say "YOU CAN BUY THIS COMPUTER WITH VISTA AND MICROSOFT GUARANTEES IT WILL BE EVERYTHING YOU WANT IT TO BE AND MORE OR ELSE YOU CAN SUE US FOR LOTS OF MONEY" it says "Vista Capable" and it's simply a guideline. HEY! While they're at it I'm gonna go sue every company who ever put a sticker on any product because none of them informed me exactly what the product could do. I mean apparently I'm not an American unless i lower myself to that level.