It seems that Microsoft had dropped the requirements of its
controversial Microsoft Windows Vista capable program, in order to help
Intel to sell older versions of chipsets that were unable to meet the
OEM requirements, according to recently released court documents.
The software giant is facing a lawsuit from the customers who
complained that the computers with ‘Vista capable’ labels were only
able to support the ‘Windows Vista Basic’ version of the operating
system.
The unsealed court documents purported that Microsoft has lowered
the requirements from Vista capable scheme, so that PCs with older
Intel 915 chipsets which were unable to support Windows Device Driver
Model (WDDM) could still qualify as Windows capable machines.
The documents seemed to suggest that the company was planning to bar
PCs with Intel’s erstwhile 915 chipsets from the plan, as they weren’t
competent enough to support Vista’s Aero Glass graphics; however it
buckled under pressure from Intel.
In addition Intel urged Microsoft to postpone the launch of its
Windows Vista sticker program from April to the originally scheduled
date of June, so that it could get some more time to develop high-end
chips to meet the market requirements.
It is interesting to note that Intel’s top exec James Renee sent an
email to Microsoft’s Will Poole, expressing his concerns over the
unfavourable impact of Microsoft’s “Vista-capable” program on the chip
maker.
Court fillings also mention that Paul Otellini, the CEO of Intel,
had in fact appealed directly to Microsoft’s chief Steve Ballmer,
saying the program could result in billions of dollars revenue loss for
the company.
Source : http://www.itproportal.com/
