The truth behind Vista
By Charles Miller

In recent weeks I have been reading stories in the news that have left me disappointed and discouraged. No, this has nothing to do with politics but with those techie news articles that end up on page 11 of the business section.

Just over a year ago Microsoft released with much fanfare their new Windows Vista operating system. Since then, to use one of my late father’s favorite expressions, “people have been staying away in droves.”

I will be the first to admit that the new Windows Vista operating system, OS for short, is a real improvement over Windows XP in several areas (the most notable is security). The buying public has been slow to embrace Vista and most Vista users I have talked to are using it only because it was forced on them.

The primary reason Vista has failed to capture the market is all of the problems, real and rumored, that are a part of any new software product. Now it starts to emerge through the fog of these obscure news articles that more of the problems are real than imagined, but incredibly not a problem with Vista.

By now you have to be asking, “If there is a problem with Vista but there is not a problem with Vista, what is going on here?” The answer is convoluted and not admitted by the responsible parties.

We can stipulate here that Windows Vista has some really hefty hardware requirements; lots of memory, lots of CPU power, etc. Two years ago as Microsoft was pushing to get their new OS on the market, only about a quarter of the new computers then available were able to meet these requirements.

In other words, Microsoft had a great new OS but the hardware makers were not yet ready with computers powerful enough to run it well. The hypothesis put forward by a growing number of industry analysts is that Microsoft made compromises to what it considered the minimum hardware specifications for Vista so they could claim it would run on more computers.

If true, this is a huge breach of faith with consumers and especially for people in my profession. Lacking the resources to test all the different motherboards and all the different brands of video cards, we have to put faith in those little stickers that say “Windows Vista Capable.” That is supposed to mean that those components are tested and certified to work with Vista.

Thousands of consumers, this writer included, have been frustrated with Vista not working well with new computer hardware labeled “Vista Capable.” Some were unhappy enough to file suit.

Now after months in the courts, a federal judge has given the green light to a class action lawsuit that could mean heap-big trouble for Microsoft. The lawsuit alleges that certain new computers bearing the “Vista Capable” label are not fully capable. I knew retailers were selling inadequate computers. Last year I excoriated the likes of Office Depot and Best Buy for selling these substandard computers. Now as a result of internal emails revealed through discovery, we learn that these computers did meet the minimum standards…but that Microsoft lowered those standards to help out their buddies in the hardware industry.

I never imagined that Microsoft was involved and still do not believe they set out to deceive consumers. The pressure to get a new product into the market is great and it appears serious mistakes in judgment were made.

Charles Miller is a freelance computer consultant, a frequent visitor to San Miguel since 1981 and now practically a full-time resident. He may be contacted at 044-415-101-8528 or email FAQ8 (at) SMAguru.com.