Microsoft VP: "I personally got burnt" by Vista Capable stickers
By Nilay Patel 
posted February 12th 2008 4:04PM
posted February 12th 2008 4:04PM
Those "Vista Capable" stickers certainly caused consumers a lot of confusion, and it looks like they even tripped up some senior Microsoft execs. According to internal MS emails introduced as evidence in the ongoing lawsuit over the program, several MS managers expressed concern that they were misleading people, with the VP of Windows product management saying "I PERSONALLY got burnt... I now have a $2,100 email machine" and Jim Allchin saying MS had "really botched" the program, and that it "had to do a better job with our customers." Of course, the main reason for all the confusion is the multiple editions of Vista that run with different capabilities depending on your hardware, but that's a subtle point to make with a sticker -- or, as one Microsoft employee admitted in an email, "Even a piece of junk will qualify" as Vista Capable. That's some pretty damning stuff, but the case isn't anywhere near resolution yet -- the judge has yet to decide whether to certify it as a class action, which looks like it'll depend on a technical reading of what exactly Microsoft was advertising throughout the Vista Capable program. We'll know in 10 days, when the judge has said she'll issue a ruling -- we'd imagine the plaintiffs' legal team has plenty more of these emails in store if the case goes through.[Via Slashdot]
Disclaimer: There once was a man named Nilay / Who was indeed an attorn-eye / He wrote this post, but he's not the lawyer of most / And this post is not legal advice or analysis and should not be taken as such.
I was trying to explain this to people after vista came out. Just because it has a sticker doesn't mean it's going to run vista well. http://www.tagsum.com/news/10307/Microsoft-VP-I-personally-got-burnt-by-Vista-Capable-stickers
Doesn't this have to do more with the companies producing these machines? Shouldn't the companies producing them be responsible enough to put these on the machines that would surely run Vista with it's recommended requirements?
You need to meet the specs given my MS to be able to put such a sticker on any product you sell. So if the manufacturers meet these requirements only MS is to blame for not requiring the minimum specs to manufacturers
If the machines fit the standards that MS set for a PC to be "Vista Capable", that's hardly the manufacturer's fault. I think the real problem here is that the requirements were too lax. A PC that can run Vista, and one that runs it well are two very different things.
I put my Vista Capable sticker on my toilet. Now my toilet supports Vista and other crap. :)
"I put my Vista Capable sticker on my toilet. Now my toilet supports Vista and other crap. :)"
OMG that's a fucking scream. I literally laughed out loud. :D
I do remember, they also had a "Vista Premium Capable" sticker, anyone with half a brain that really wanted Vista got one of those.
An awful lot of people look set to be burnt by their optical disc players that said they were 'HD capable' too.
...
Bdum tsh!
Doesn't this belong under the "Oh no he didn't !" section?
Hah, even my iPhone has one of these stickers on the back!
No, seriously.
Mine says vista capable. The problem people have is they upgrade without going and finding out which software and very little hardware bit of hardware work with Vista. I'm running a compaq with AMD Sempron 1.8 Ghz processor and 512 MB DDR 3200 that is Shared with Intergrated Gforce 6150 LE GPU and 160 GB Sata 2 hard drive. Mine is what people call crap pc. But hell mine scores 4.0 in windows rating box. I'm using Vista Basic OEM.
Ahh Nilay, I still remember my first (and indeed I believe THE first) comment about your disclaimers. I'm glad you've decided to make them more interesting. Bonus points. But I'm afraid that poem gets a little out of form at the end. Might I offer some help?
There once was a man named Nilay /
Who was indeed an attorn-eye /
But he did not advise /
Nor did he analyze /
Please don't take it as such /
And he will thank you very much /
Because without your retainer /
He is simply your entertainer.
Someone taped the "Runs on Windows Vista" sticker on our (automatic) toilet flusher in man's washroom last week. It's still there.
Ironically the flusher is motion sensor controlled and is pretty reliable (it does produce lots of false positives but no false negatives).
I bet Bill Gates uses a Mac, cuz he obviously thinks his products are fine.
Apple happens to be one competitor microsoft can handle. So what if he did?
Michael Dell uses Ubuntu.
last weekend my friend came around with a new vista loaded laptop that was causing her no end of grief.
Three days later she returned to store to swap for a mac. Now she is MUCH happier.
Sorry Bill but u really screwed up with this OS.
I can do this too.
Last weekend my friend bought a Mac. She then realized none of her software would work on it.
She returned it for a Windows laptop. Now she is MUCH happier.
See what I did there?
and she asked a Mac guy for help? Expains why she didn't get the problem solved.....
Actually, I am both a mac & pc user.. In this case I did initally suggest she get a mac & understood when she wanted to stick with a windows machine.
Her PC came installed with Vista, & trying to downgrade to XP proved almost impossible.. Once we finally got it downgraded, we now have a whole heap of dodgy driver issues & the whole thing isn't working how it should.
& I guess as designers, we really do need our machines to work. & using a mac tends to be more reliable (& in our world, reliability=money$)
So then her problem wasn't really talking to a mac guy so much as one that doesn't know how to identify hardware and download drivers... Also I'm not sure what downgrade path you took, but the one where you format and then put in the XP cd seems to work every time I've done it...
'doesn't know how to identify hardware and download drivers'
..why should you have to download drivers? Can't fit them on the install disk?
..oh wait, windows, right..
Ethana2, apparently you're too dumb to realize that, unlike Mac OS X, Windows is run on machines with various combinations of hardware, unlike OS X, which is run on Apple's hardware solely.
Drivers are required because there is no way that Windows or OS X (or Linux for that matter) could have drivers already for a multitude of different components.
Vista Capable means:
At least 800 Mhz CPU
At least 512 MB RAM
At least DirectX 9 graphics
Laughable? Sadly these stickers were plastered over many laptops - even expensive ones - with XP installed back in the fall of 2006. Upgrade to Vista, and Microsoft mail is indeed about the only piece of software you're gonna be able to run. Eventually.
Smart people seeing those stickers either bought desktops, waited a year, or left the machine running on XP!
My laptop is a 1.6 Core Duo, 1 GB ram, Intel GMA945 integrated graphics. I'm not a gamer but Vista runs my media center software, the internet and photoshop simultaneously but then I guess that's not really software is it?
Gee Brent, that's great. However for the real "Vista capable" experience please remove one of your 512MB DIMMs.
"Smart people seeing those stickers either bought desktops, waited a year, or left the machine running on XP!"
People aren't supposed to have to be 'smart' to buy a computer. If it had Microsoft's seal of approval Vista, it damn well ought to be able to run Vista and run it well. Aren't those engineers smarter than the average computer purchaser? And before blaming the computer manufacturer keep this in mind: That logo belongs to Microsoft. If they allow it to be used, they are responsible for how it's used.
God Bless George W Bush
Outlaw Religion
Israel has a right to defend herself
Pull the troops now!
Mac rulez, Windows sux
(did i get at least one side of all the hot issues for each side yet? Ps - this post doesnt necessarily reflect this poster views either way)
Mac and Windows both suck.
The rest of your statements are nothing but contradictory, and to such a degree that they don't even get the chance to be confusing.
Even a low-end Core Duo Intel PC is Vista capable. However, it doesn't mean you'd enjoy using it on a daily basis. I guess if you have a low-end machine then there's no point in moving up to Vista. Stick with the good ole Windows XP. Save money and avoid the hassle of upgrading. Nothing wrong with that. You don't really need the eye candy.
I think a better question than whether or not your "Vista Capable" PC can actually run Vista well would be why would you want to bother to upgrade anyway. I have yet to see a see a good reason to even bother. XP does everything I need Windows for, which isn't much as my Ubuntu partition sees most of the action these days. Oh and that fancy Vista GUI; I've got that for XP already. It's out there on the net if you know where to look.
Microsoft took their 360 idea and applied it to Vista. First it was 2 SKUs (Basic & Premium) on the 360 and now there's 4---(Arcade, Premium, Elite & Halo Edition. For Vista, it should of been 2 versions from the start. Pro 32bit for older hardware & 64bit for the newer hardware, period. Forget all that "Home" nonsense. What we have now is Ultimate, Home Premium, Home Basic, Business & Enterprise. Talk about confusion and whats capable and non capable to run the stuff. Some people have a good experience with it others downright hate it.
Does it really matter? Microsoft is a complete monopoly and anyone that uses a PC will do exactly as Microsoft says. Even the government is powerless to rein in Billy G.
I bought a Toshiba laptop that had a "vista capable" sticker on it and later, foolishly upgraded to Vista. "CAPABLE" mean one-by-one dowloading and installing 27 vista upgrades from Toshiba. Vista is a piece of junk and MS must know it. After about 6 months, I still have compability problems and my AOL has never worked properly on it. Some programs will never work on Vista. MS keeps giving me happy talk (Microsoft wants you to have the best experience possible." What a crock. I have greatly lowered the usefulness of my laptop and have considered (but am too afraid) trying to undo it all and going back to XP. For the love of God, DO NOT "upgrade" to Vista. Your machine will become cronicly sick. Thanks Bill. How about sending me some that charity to buy an Apple?
Haha! Now that's a disclaimer everyone can get behind... good work Nilay.
3 new stickers:
All have the same Designed for XP
1 has vista basic capable
1 has vista business capable
1 has vista home premium capable
1 has vista ultimate capable