RSSMicrosoft softened 'Vista Capable' requirements for Intel, e-mails indicate
By Jacqueline Emigh | Published November 17, 2008, 7:25 PM
Although its CEO claims no knowledge of the event, and other Microsoft execs raised opposition, Microsoft dropped a key requirement for "Vista Capable" PCs at Intel's request in 2006, according to e-mails now unsealed by a federal judge.
In a lawsuit charging deceptive marketing around Windows Vista, a chain of e-mails now unsealed by a federal court judge suggests that, under pressure from Intel, Microsoft relaxed its standards for "Vista Capable" PCs, enraging its partner Hewlett-Packard. Meanwhile, Microsoft has sought to excuse company CEO Steve Ballmer from testifying in the case.
The e-mails suggest that, to avoid losing hundreds of millions of dollars or more in business to AMD, Intel officials might have leaned on both Microsoft and HP in January of 2006 to drop the requirement for PCs designated as Vista Capable to support the Windows Device Driver Model (WDDM) -- which during Vista's development period had gone by the name Longhorn Device Driver Model (LDDM) and which is still sometimes called WVDDM outside of Microsoft, to account for Vista.
A court filing on behalf of plaintiffs Dianne L. Kelley, et al, claims that "the documents demonstrate beyond any reasonable doubt the reasons why Microsoft temporarily dropped the WDDM (Windows Device Driver Model) requirement: (1) to help itself by nearly doubling the number of PCs that would qualify for the Vista Capable designation, and (2) to help Intel sell millions of chipsets by calling them 'Vista Capable' even though they could never support WDDM."
The e-mails support the premise that in December 2005, Microsoft still envisioned a qualification program of at least two tiers (at one time, it considered three), which distinguished between "Vista Capable" (meaning, capable of running Vista Home Basic, which didn't use the Aero user interface enhancements), and "Vista Ready" or "Vista Premium Ready" (meaning, capable of running the Vista Premium SKU).
At the time, though, both PCs in both the Vista Premium and Vista Standard categories were supposed to support WDDM, even though three other Microsoft OEM partners -- Dell, Sony, and Fujitsu -- had each asked Microsoft for special consideration around this stipulation.
Although Microsoft rejected the requests of all three OEMs, the software maker then changed its mind at the end of January upon urging from Intel, after pushing up the start date from June 1 to April 1 for its branding initiative.
Intel had expressed concern to Microsoft that the Intel i915, still installed in large numbers of laptops, couldn't support WDDM -- the key requirement of being "Vista Ready," qualifying for the upper-tier logo.
"[CEO Paul Otellini] thinks you really don't understand that almost all of our mobile SKUs for the next 5 months are with Centrino and Alviso and therefore NEVER Vista ready - and Mobile is a huge portion of retail and growing," wrote Renee James, then VP of Intel's Microsoft Program Office, in a confidential e-mail on January 27 to Will Poole, then Microsoft's director of Windows desktop development.
Rajesh Srinivasan, another Microsoft exec, then estimated that Intel would lose about $600 million in April and May 2006 -- and possibly billions in all -- if Microsoft did not drop the WDDM requirement.
"Retailers are looking for 80+% of notebooks to be Vista Capable and [will] thus shift business to AMD. Intel will continue to see loss in market share due to this decision. Here is how their potential cost could get into billions," he wrote in an e-mail.
Apparently, Intel tried unsuccessfully to gain intervention with Microsoft through HP, a company that was infuriated over any change in requirements after having built two motherboards specifically to support Vista.
"You have bowed to pressure from a partner who would have been embarrassed in the April timeframe because their line-up was not completely compliant. That same partner called me Monday to enlist my help in applying pressure to you to get this decision made; what were they thinking?" wrote an HP exec.
"The decision you have made and communicated has taken away an investment we made consciously for competitive advantage knowing that some players would choose not to make the same level of investment as we did in supporting your program requirements," according to Richard Walker, an HP consumer exec. "I can't be more clear than to say you not only let us down by reneging on your commitment to stand behind the WDDM requirement, you have demonstrated a complete lack of commitment to HP as a strategic partner and cost us a lot of money in the process."
E-mails from some Microsoft officials also indicated awareness that WDDM was needed for more than just support of Aero, which also went by the nickname "Glass" or "Aero Glass" during development.
"915 systems absolutely WILL be able to run Windows Vista. They will not run Glass. They will not get some other benefits that come with WDDM drivers that cannot be ported to them," according to Poole.
"Intel 915 and 915GM will also now qualify for 'Windows Vista Capable,' per the change in Windows Vista Capable marketing program last week. However, [they] will not support WDDM and will not offer any graphics stability or performance improvements over Windows XP, nor will they support any of the visual quality/productivity/style improvements over Windows XP. These also will not qualify for Designed for Windows Vista logos," said Srinivasan.
The e-mail chain also indicates, though, that not all Microsoft execs were at all in favor of dumping the WDDM proviso.
"I'm sorry to say that I think this plan is terrible and it will have to be changed. I believe we are going to be misleading customers with the Capable program. OEMs will say a machine is Capable and customers will believe it will run all the core Vista features," wrote Jim Allchin, who was then co-president of Microsoft.
"Now we have an upset partner, Microsoft destroyed credibility, as well as my own credibility shot," Allchin wrote later.
For his part, Ballmer denied any involvement with the WDDM decision, even then. "I had nothing to do with this," Ballmer wrote to Allchin and Kevin Johnson, the other co-president of Microsoft at the time. "I am not even in the detail of the issues."
Meanwhile, a court filing by Microsoft, issued on October 3 of this year, sought to get Ballmer excused from deposition testimony in the case.
"Mr. Ballmer has no unique personal knowledge of any facts at issue. He was not involved in the decisions with respect to the Windows Vista Capable program that Plaintiffs challenge; instead, he learned of those decisions only after the fact from subordinate Microsoft employees," according to Microsoft's filing.
Obama Sin Laden
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|Intel has da money. AMD don't. Unfair, yes. Monopolistic? Yes. Can we do something about it? No.
MS will pay, and we move on to another chapter in the book of business. Nice to see the shorts of Intel and MS publicly dropped, though.
Go with Mac! The uber monopoly!
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|Do you just not know what makes a monopoly, or are you purposefully trying to mislead?
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|Face it Tool, for some reason the word "monopoly" is just too complex a concept for most here to understand.
But then, SO is the notion that MS may not be perfect. LOL!
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|Shut up, retard.
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|Intel should have simply made their products more attractive by providing winxp pro (at a home version price) and perhaps provided ms office on their systems (free or discounted); instead of trying to label their not so ready for vista products as vista ready.
misrepresentation and conspiracy seems to be the instinct for business's that are desperate and overpaid and incompetent executives.
perhaps, Intel will way the cost of embarrassment and the hefty fines and the lost of respect against simply providing honest and hardworking consumers with value.
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|And the alternatives to Intel are..?
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|good point - unfortunately.
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|hmmmm I think theres something called AMD, you know they make processors and chipsets or does AMD suddenly not exist?
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|And this is the reason why I think MSFT should create their own hardware standard for their OS like Apple. Yes, I am aware tht they would get their a** hauled into court, but they should take stand. I am sure Dell, HP and Intel would follow along and stop creating these crappy budget PCs.
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|I think that consumers should be careful with MS. This was not honest. Apple rocks!
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|Apple rocks? my @ss. Apple sucks!!
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|Speaking of Vista turds I see that there are some Vista clingons around as well. [rolleyes]
Some people will defend just about anything no matter how terrible it has been overwhelming its been proven to be. They're truly deluded to the point of religion.
I feel sorry for libertopians and their blind worship of the corporate.
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|So thinking Vista is a decent OS now makes one a "libertopian"...
...and you're calling everyone else delusional? How about a look in that mirror, sparky.
It's not ironic, folks...it's tragic.
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|Vista is a decent OS - IF your hardware is good. Unfortunately the majority of computers being sold even now, over a year later, are not capable of running Vista well. Even adding more memory is not enough to fix these computers - the problem is the graphics card. MOST computers sold today do not have the graphics power to run Vista well, and those computers would run a lot better if people were able to run XP on them. If you are a rich guy and have one of the rare computers that can run Vista, good for you, but that doesn't help your neighbors who must suffer.
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|"If you are a rich guy and have one of the rare computers that can run Vista, good for you, but that doesn't help your neighbors who must suffer."
Define "rich".
Computers sold for $400 TODAY can run Vista quite well. Of course, they'll be able to run Win7 even better.
Integrated Ati3200? Integrated NVIDIA? hell, even my 2 year old NVIDIA 6150 works well with Vista.
Why? Only because they are the greatest operating systems known to man. :)
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|Intel simply needed to get with the program. If a financially struggling company could have created most of the parts needed to create a decent performing Vista computer in terms of both reliability and performance then why couldn't Intel do the same?
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|Well said!
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|Why doesn't Microsoft just say, "You know what, we're sorry for Vista. Anyone that bought that shiny turd gets a free upgrade to our new extra shiny turd, Windows 7 a.k.a. Vista 2nd edition."
End of story. Everybody can move along... or do what you have a burning desire to do: Switch to a Mac.
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|Troll
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|Sorry guys let me corrent my mistake...as usual :P
Mac OS X sucks and will always suck so will Mac. And Windows 7 will be the best operating system ever. Just dump Mac because Macs are for f**gots!!
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|"915 systems absolutely WILL be able to run Windows Vista. They will not run Glass. They will not get some other benefits that come with WDDM drivers that cannot be ported to them," according to Poole.
No problem.
Intel 915 and 915GM will also now qualify for 'Windows Vista Capable,' per the change in Windows Vista Capable marketing program last week. However, [they] will not support WDDM and will not offer any graphics stability or performance improvements over Windows XP, nor will they support any of the visual quality/productivity/style improvements over Windows XP....
Not Cool, but...
These also will not qualify for Designed for Windows Vista logos," said Srinivasan.
OK.
Ballmer denied any involvement with the WDDM decision, even then. "I had nothing to do with this," Ballmer wrote to Allchin and Kevin Johnson, the other co-president of Microsoft at the time. "I am not even in the detail of the issues."
Why do they continue to let this nutjob out in public? He may be a genius with code, but he's completely inept, socially.
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|"Apparently, Intel tried unsuccessfully to gain intervention with Microsoft through HP, a company that was infuriated over any change in requirements after having built two motherboards specifically to support Vista."
lol well that is understandable.
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|Good summary of events. So basically Windows rang a cow bell and yelled "Vistas all around" and then slapped the OS on anything with a keyboard. No wonder that grandma sued them when her browser didn't shimmer.
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|Yup, why should Ballmer know what MS is doing with such an insignificant event as the release of Vista...
Silly Rabbit...
Gee, and just last week we listened as the independent peripheral vendors were raked over the coals for failing to provide adequate driver support for Vista by the fanboys...
Comments this week should be interesting!
Where are the Vista apologists now? Damned 3rd party vendors! I sure am glad that Apple and their heinous "we decide which apps we will redistribute on our iPhone" is the ONLY nefarious company in existence. LOL!
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|I'm surprised the Vista/Windows fanboys have not commented yet.....
Oh wait, no I'm not.
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|any person with half a brain knew what vista capable, vista ready meant, would i have gone out and bought a vista capable PC? not likely, i'd go looking for a top of the line PC
MS were trying to make things simpler in turn making things more difficult for the the below average PC user.
all that said, i have a fairly new machine running vista ultimate without a single issue what so ever, a system stability rating of 10 over the last 6 months, i couldn't be any more pleased.
the way windows7 is shaping up, running on machines with very light specs it will beat out vista itself, OS X and possibly all the linux distro's in terms of ease of use and speed, we'll just have to wait and see, but i've been hearing good things from folks in the know.
MS really needs to clamp down and not allow PC vendors to install useless third party app's and utilities this time around too.
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|Well,
It sure didn't take long for the trolls to show up...
Gee, and just last week we listened as the independent peripheral vendors were raked over the coals for failing to provide adequate driver support for Vista by the fanboys...
*yawn*
One of these things is not like the other.
Defending MSFT against claims that they somehow had control over the manufacture of device drivers has no bearing on one's opinion regarding the idiocy of Ballmer.
Ballmer is a dev genius. He can't speak in public without shoving his foot down his throat.
Manufacturers dropped the ball with Vista. MSFT had indeed screwed them in the past... Apparently, the device manufacturers chose pettiness over the customer. All MSFT's fault though, eh?
MSFT screwed up on the system requirements for Vista. They also should never have released an "upgrade" SKU for it.
I guess one can both think MSFT is right ... and wrong.
Amazing, isn't it?
The glee with which you greet MSFT's failures, and the contempt with which you great their successes is so entertaining.... (sarcasm)
Now go play in traffic, troll-boy.
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|Well, since the majority of people posting on here were around when XP came out, its well known that whatever MS says are the requirements you double that amount, sad but thats just how it is...
Plus a lot of us used the Beta and the RTM build before it was officially released and knew what we were getting into, the average joe won't hear nor care about this story unless it gives them money...
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|I think you missed the point of this article.
Microsoft KNEW that without lowering the system requirements, intel couldn't put the Vista Capable sticker on Intel PC's.
So did they fix Vista to make these PC's able and capable of properly running Vista? NOPE.
So what did they do? They lowered the requirements KNOWING that Vista wasn't going to run well.
And what happen? Vista did not run well on these machines. People rejected it. And now it's Windows 7 time.
This is the great consumer friendly MS you are fanboys of?
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|...the average joe won't hear nor care about this story unless it gives them money..."
I think they did hear and care about it. Maybe they didn't hear about "this story", but they did hear that Vista had problems and that's why they don't want it.
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|I know I must have insulted you when I lumped you in with foxfyre, but after reading your post above I have to say I regret it. Let me say that I do agree with your view on this and I apologise for any previous misunderstandings.
(I'm not here to fall out with people and to have fallen out with one person is one person too many, without falling out with others as well).
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|I'm sure I did not miss the point of this article. It's not a "fanboy" issue. It's a reflection of what we've become.
The American mindset used to stand for "raising the bar". Now we try to punish hard work and achievement. "Lowering requirements" so that everyone is accepted has become our goal.
So why should most Americans be upset with Microsoft? Isn't this the type of thing we're trying to encourage nowadays?
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|Ouch.
You suck.
But only because you speak the truth...and we hate that here. ;)
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|You didn't insult me. It takes more than an anonymous forum posting or two to do that. :)
I work with a large group of sarcastic smart-asses(like attracts like, I suppose). The insults, sarcasm, and ego/soul-crushing barbs fly fast and furious here...and these are people I personally, physically interact with every day.
A forum on tha intarwebz? Bah...you'd have to do a lot better than that to cause emotional distress.
No harm, no foul.
Besides, if everyone here agreed with everyone else, this place would get boring fast. ;)
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|'"Lowering requirements" so that everyone is accepted has become our goal.'
How sad and true...
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|[shakes hands with]
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|"The American mindset used to stand for "raising the bar". Now we try to punish hard work and achievement. "Lowering requirements" so that everyone is accepted has become our goal."
I'm going to quote that many, many times.
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|Sissy
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|Jerk.
Hmm... I wonder where this is going...
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|So Ballmer is an "idiot", aye fanboy?
Let's see, such ire, and over what? Expecting Ballmer to have more awareness of what his company is doing? Yeah, how unreasonable of me!
And oh, expecting MS to actually adhere to standards and to facilitate the development of drivers? Isn't it ironic that the LARGEST OS manufacturer cannot seem to get this issue ironed out for a platform where so many rave about how easy it is to write a driver and yert where so many cannot seem to do it? Hmmmmmmmmmmm????????
Yup, quite an accomplishment. But I guess that simply means that there are quite a few idiot Windows programmers about, doesn't it? As well as manufacturers of Windows 'semi-compliant; peripherals.
Now THAT's a platform endorsement if I ever heard one!
"Buy our product, as we have the largest selection of peripherals that might or might not work" - yup, where is ole Seinfeld now to champion THAT slogan!
MS does have control over the code they designate as GOLD that the manufacturer's write drivers for! Am I going too fast for you?
MS has in the past changed that code after going GOLD, effectively breaking drivers that the manufacturer's have spent time and money developing in good faith!
And what happens? Oh, you asinine fanboys rail against the manufacturers!
And because I find it hilarious that the head of a company has no idea as to what 'his' company is doing regarding the compliance requirements for what may be easily posited as their most significant product release to date begs the issue of just what his role actually is, aside from perhaps making sure the break room Coke machines are stocked!
So noting that Ballmer is not aware of basic issues that all should have been aware of - AT ALL LEVELS of the product development chain, and to note that their internal practices have historically lead to driver failures - just as evidently, the basic code does as well, judging from the 1 in 10 installation failures, does not make one a troll.
But it must pain you when I not only find fault with Apple, but I DARE to question the efficiency and effectiveness of your behemoth MS that wanders drunkenly about as it intentionally misrepresents product compatibility requirements!
Funny, as some might call that negligent -and even fraud.
But you miss the point. The glee I derive is watching fanboys like you lash out with your overblown sense of outrage and embarrassment as you attempt to act as the apologist for MS's oversight and negligence.
Face it, MS screws up often. And when it does, just as you are so often reminding us, it screws over A LOT more people than any other environment!
So deal with it fanboy, I will laugh at their screwups, and congratulate them on their triumphs - be it MS or Apple or Oracle or IBM or any other significant company. At least I am not some kiss a** fanboy like yourself so beholden to one platform that they cannot appreciate both their successes and their failures!
Of course, you won't bother reading the posts that come after this will you regarding MS culpability in the driver mess, will you?
Yup, your selective attention is fascinating, if not a bit pathological.
But keep it up, its fun to watch when you have to eat crow over MS's screwups due to your obsessive devotion to a mediocre market behemoth.
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|Hahahaha,
Another suck buddy... how quaint...
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|Good lord...
It's like the Energizer Bunny, only stupid and pointless.
You rant like a complete village idiot about two points we actually agree MSFT screwed up on.
...and you call me a fanboy. Wonder how that works . I don't think it means what you think it means.
So deal with it fanboy, I will laugh at their screwups, and congratulate them on their triumphs
That'll be the day...
Of course, you won't bother reading the posts that come after this will you regarding MS culpability in the driver mess, will you?
I am not Zaine, you jackass. And if you bothered to read *my* comment you are so enthusiastically replied to, you'd notice I *did* in fact lay some of the blame on MSFT.
Yup, your selective attention is fascinating, if not a bit pathological.
Talking to yourself, pretending people have said that which they did not...Look in a mirror lately, jackass?
But keep it up, its fun to watch when you have to eat crow over MS's screwups due to your obsessive devotion to a mediocre market behemoth.
How in the **** is it obsessive devotion if I just admitted in the post above some of their flaws? I've said I prefer FF over IE many times. Ah...there's that selective attention again, dimwit. Perhaps you really should invest in a mirror one of these days. Might be able to get rid of some of that ridiculous froth.
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|Ah...
Another pointless troll. How cute.
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|You can't reason with scum I'm afraid - scum is always going to be scum. [shrugs]
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|It's just foxfyre.
I firmly believe it's genetically impossible for him to do anything but be a complete and total git. He's got this absurd obsessive compulsion to argue to the point of absurdity...even if he has to make up the other half of the argument as he goes along.
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|lol
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|