'Vista Capable' might Cost Microsoft $8.5 Billion

Looks like yesterday's push by Microsoft for Vista Capable machines might cost Microsoft more then a tongue lashing by end users. Legal proceedings against Microsoft are pushing forward with a "class-action lawsuit, which claims Microsoft misled consumers with the Vista Capable campaign in the months leading up to the January 2007 release of the operating system.

Microsoft dismissed the estimate in a filing of its own yesterday, saying it was "absurdly [valued]" and if damages were granted, it would be a "windfall to millions.""

An expert witness for the pantiff's has calculated that damages could range from $3.92 Billion to as high as $8.52 Billion to upgrade the 19.4 million PC's that were sold as 'Vista Capable' machines.

"In a heavily redacted report, Leffler said he had used data provided by Microsoft to arrive at the number of "Vista upgradeable" PCs sold in the U.S. from April 2006, when the Vista Capable campaign started, to January 2007, when Vista hit retail shelves and the program ended. Of those PCs, 13.75 million notebooks and 5.65 million desktop computers were classified as Vista Capable but not able to meet the more stringent requirements for the "Premium Ready" label, Leffler estimated.

By the criteria set by Microsoft and passed to computer makers, Vista Capable meant that the machine was able to run at least Windows Vista Basic, the entry-level edition of the line. Such a system, however, might not be able to run a more powerful version, or if it could, might not be able to execute all of its features."

This is going to be an expensive nut for Microsoft if the judgment rules against them. With the current 5,000 people being laid off in the next 18 months and other cut backs Microsoft will have to look at other ways to save money that might end up in more layoffs and other unexpected cuts within the organization. I do wonder if Microsoft has considered offering an upgrade to Windows 7 in lue of a judgement against them so that they can try to recoup some of the possible cost there. Windows 7 seems to work better then Vista from what i've seen and experienced and it might even run on some of those pc's that it didn't work on before. But, time will tell what will happen in this expensive complicated trial.

Vista Capable case could cost Microsoft $8.5B (ComputerWorld.com)
Judge makes 'Vista Capable' lawsuit a class-action affair (ComputerWorld.com)