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Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer will be forced to take the stand to defend his involvement in the “Vista Capable” marketing initiative which sparked a class action lawsuit back in February. The court has been selectively taking testimony from key Microsoft executives based on the contents of the 158 page bundle of internal emails that Judge Martha Peachman ordered unsealed. Specifically the court seems interested to learn of Ballmer’s involvement in giving Intel a pass on its underpowered integrated graphics hardware which turned out to be barely capable of booting Vista Basic. In one specific chain senior vice president Will Poole emailed Ballmer following a conversation with Intel CEO Paul Otellini stating:
“Steve, following up on the call you took from Paul today, we have changed our program so that Intel's current integrated parts qualify for 'Vista Capable' branding ... This change completely resolves their problem. “
In response Ballmer wrote:
“I thought they had other issues Certainly paul described other (non graphics) issues is this really resolved check back with her thanks”.
In the eyes of Judge Peachman this is sufficient acknowledgement of the issues to justify the need for a deposition. Ballmer has 30 days to schedule his three hour appearance, but he has yet to set a date. A Microsoft spokesman has responded to the press by stating, "We will of course comply with the court's order. Mr. Ballmer's knowledge about the Windows Vista Capable program comes from the executives he empowered to run the program and make decisions, and two of those executives already testified in this case." Many other spectacularly controversial quotes have come from the internal emails, including a VP of product management who claims to have been “burnt” by the program. But Officially Microsoft defends the initiative and claims many of the emails and memos released have been taken out of context.
What are your opinions on the trial?
Comments are closed on this article
Macknzie
November 24, 2008 at 6:55am
Let's be clear: we're not talking about trial yet, we're talking about discovery. It's highly unlikely that this will ever get to trial. Even if it does, it will be quite a while. This is just a deposition. It's under oath, true, and there are circumstances where portions can be used later at trial, but it's usually more of a general information gathering session than anything else.
Keith E. Whisman
November 23, 2008 at 7:53pm
That picture reminds me of Adolf Hitler giving a Nuremburg speach.
Sieg Heil, Sieg Heil, Heil Ballmer.
ghot
November 23, 2008 at 7:11pm
They best lose their "we have taken control of your' PC's" attitude fast or their going to be in bread lines soon.
Fry Ballmer, or at least make him do those OxyClean commercials....thats where he belongs :/
mah_101381
November 23, 2008 at 3:13pm
Its not just his fault because people were dumb enough to believe a pc with a sticker says a pc with little hardware is "Vista Capable". The specs had not been released and was several months away from release itself. I remeber seeing families buying a P.O.S. e-machine pc with vista bsic, unable to wait to get home and try out the new expensive game they bought. The hardware was BARELY capable of running Vista Basic in the first place. If you are going to buy a pc, DO NOT buy without doing some serious research first. Too much money is wasted on impulse purchases. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.
strykyr
November 23, 2008 at 2:07pm
This all started cus the OEMs wanted the certified logo. Then they bitch cuz intel got it when Intel shouldn't have because it wasn't capable of running vista...Now let me ask this:
What video chipsets are in most of the OEM machines? Dell, Hp, Gateway? INTEL
So Dell, HP and Gateway all have the same shit in their crappy computers and they are pissed cuz microsoft let Intel do what they were trying to do in the first place. And it still backfired. The lesson here: Roll your own and quit dippin in everyone elses bag. For the straight and narrow: Build your own machine or quit bitchin. Can't build your own? Learn how or go buy an inferior console.
etech82
December 01, 2008 at 8:14pm
Is it MOJAVE compatible !!??!!
My Radeon 9600 runs my mojave just fine, what's the big problem?
