Lawyers Attempt to Revive Vista Capable Lawsuit

The Vista Capable lawsuit -- like the consumer and business market's dissatisfaction with Windows Vista -- refuses to go away. Shortly after a federal judge revoked the class-action status of the Vista Capable lawsuit, lawyers for the plaintiffs are now reportedly asking the judge to reconsider that decision.

Originally, the class-action suit involved all parties who purchased Vista Capable PCs, but a recent court ruling narrowed it down to six individual plaintiffs. (Source: crn.com)

Plaintiffs Attempt To Recertify Class-Action Status

Lawyers for the plaintiffs are attempting to recertify the case's class-action status by narrowing its scope to PC buyers in Microsoft's Express Upgrade Guarantee program who requested a Vista upgrade, and buyers of Vista Capable PCs that lacked support for the Windows Display Driver Model (WDDM).

In a recent court filing, lawyers for the plaintiffs asked U.S. District Court Judge Marsha J. Pechman to postpone the April 13 trial date to consider plaintiffs' contemporaneously-filed motion for narrowed class certification and if applicable, dissemination of class notice in the event the court concludes narrowed class certification is appropriate. (Source PDF: media.techflash.com)

Lawsuit Could Cost Microsoft $8.5 Billion

A lot rides on the court's decision. Estimates have put the number of PCs labeled as Vista Capable at 19.4 million, which could result in an estimated $8.52 billion price tag for Microsoft, which would then be forced to upgrade those PCs once labeled as Vista Capable that, in fact, weren't.

During a nine-month marketing campaign before the launch of Windows Vista to consumers in January 2007, Microsoft and its partners affixed Vista Capable labels to PCs that ended up not having enough processing power to run more advanced versions of Windows Vista than the entry-level Vista Home Basic.

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