Microsoft is asking a US district court to end the
class-action status of the "Vista Capable" case, so that
aggrieved customers would have to sue Redmond individually.
The end of class action status would make it harder for a
growing number of Vista users to take action over a perceived lack
of functionality in Windows Vista Home Basic.
The "Vista Capable" campaign saw PC manufacturers label Windows
XP machines with the moniker in readiness for Vista after the new
OS was delayed.
The idea was that users would continue to buy new PCs with the
older OS, whilst being promised they could upgrade to the new OS
for free or at a piecemeal rate.
However, a number of these users say they expected to be able to
run different higher spec versions of Vista and not just the Home
Basic offering.
Microsoft contends, "The evidence refutes plaintiffs' claims
that Windows Vista Home Basic cannot 'fairly' be called Windows
Vista."
It adds, "Windows Vista Home Basic has nearly all of the same
computer code as the rest of the Windows Vista family. Microsoft
never publicly defined Windows Vista in a way that would exclude
Windows Vista Home Basic."