Microsoft execs disagreed on inadequate Vista Capable standard

HP executives weren't alone in their outrage over Microsoft's decision lower Vista OS requirements to allow Intel to dump billions of dollars worth of chips, according to internal e-mails released during a class-action lawsuit.

Jim Allchin[, Man In Charge of Vista's release,] had called the decision to allow computers powered by Intel's 915 chipset to qualify for the Vista Capable program as "misleading customers." Allchin, who worked 17 years for Microsoft, retired the day Vista was released in late January, 2007.

HP was upset because it had invested millions in high-end components to realize a competitive advantage through Vista-certification of its PCs. Originally, Microsoft said it would only certify as Vista-ready computers capable of utilizing it's fancy Aero interface.

In early 2006, Microsoft relaxed the Vista Capable rules by allowing computers equipped with Intel's older 915 graphics chipset to qualify for the program. Will Poole, then responsible for the client version of Windows, tossed out the requirement that a PC's graphics use the Windows Device Driver Model (WDDM), Vista's revamped driver architecture that debuted in Vista.

As Microsoft's vice president for Windows product management, Mike Nash, found out:

"I know that I chose my laptop (a Sony TX770P) because it had the Vista logo and was pretty disappointed that it not only wouldn't run [Aero], but more important wouldn't run [Windows] Movie Maker," Nash said in an e-mail on Feb. 25, 2007. "Now I have a $2,100 e-mail machine."

Nash wasn't alone.

Jon Shirley, a former president and chief operating officer at Microsoft and now one of the company's board directors, expressed Vista frustration, too.

In a message dated Feb. 16, 2007, to CEO Steve Ballmer, Shirley spelled out his Vista driver problem. "The other machine I will not upgrade as there are no drivers yet for my Epson printer (top of the line and in production today but no driver yet), Epson scanner (older but also top of the line and they say they will not do a driver for) and a Nikon film scanner that will get a driver one day but no date set yet.

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