Follow TechBlips on Twitter
Blog Reactions
All about Microsoft: Windows 7 and netbooks: Separating fact from speculation
Technologizer: The “Windows Vista Capable” Files: How Did Microsoft Not Avoid This Train Wreck?
Fast Company - Technology: Beauty is Better Than Brains
Digital Daily: Vista Capable Suit Downgraded to “Home Basic” from “Class Action Ultimate”
Windows 7 and netbooks: Separating fact from speculation
All about Microsoft —
... that it was including more features and functionality in each new release, so even if consumers weren’t willing to pay more per PC, OEMs should have to cough up more money for each new version of Windows. Microsoft’s relationship with its PC-maker partners is not totally adversarial. With Windows Vista, for example, Microsoft and the OEMs were in cahoots to find a way to get users to buy “premium” PCs running “premium” releases of Windows. (A plan that backfired, by the way, as the ongoing class-action suit over “Windows Capable” has made all too clear.) With Windows 7, ...
Will Microsoft apply ‘Vista-Capable’ lessons to Win 7 netbooks?
All about Microsoft —
... , I can’t help but wonder whether Microsoft will apply some of the lessons it (hopefully) learned about working with OEMs to Windows 7 — especially in the netbook space. The original suit, filed in March 2007 , claimed Microsoft “engaged in bait and switch — assuring consumers they were purchasing ‘Vista Capable’ machines when, in fact, they could obtain only a stripped-down operating system lacking the functionality and features that Microsoft advertised as ‘Vista.’” In the ensuing months, as the judge overseeing the case agreed to unseal various e-mail messages between ...
The “Windows Vista Capable” Files: How Did Microsoft Not Avoid This Train Wreck?
Technologizer —
... which let manufacturers slap a sticker which seemed to tout Vista compatability on basic PCs which weren’t even capable of running the Aero interface, the upgrade’s signature feature. By doing so, it helped PC companies move some boxes during the months before Vista finally shipped. But it was a Faustian move that guaranteed that a lot of new PC buyers would be disgruntled with Vista from the moment they installed it. It was also no shocker that Windows Vista Capable spurred a class action lawsuit against Microsoft on behalf of people who bought computers that bore the sticker ...
Beauty is Better Than Brains
Fast Company - Technology —
... from sale because customers weren't buying them. If consumers' tepid adoption of software-as-service and their distaste for simple, functional PCs is any indication, then the message is clear: people don't want plain boxes that work well. Buyers want cool-looking boxes, even if they work like crap. (And when they do indeed work like crap, buyers will file a class action suit as if they're surprised.) It's one thing to buy clothing, small appliances, or even TVs simply for flash, because they're relatively inessential. But the car-buyer choosing his daily driver would never ...
The 6 Tech Marvels We Had Better See In 2009
Fast Company - Technology —
... in beta form in early 2009, and in final release by the end of the year. Hopefully this version will come without its own class-action lawsuit . Here's to 2009, and all the tech glory it could -- and should -- bring us. And if it doesn't, well, you can always pack your crap and move into a cave.
Vista Capable Suit Downgraded to “Home Basic” from “Class Action Ultimate”
Digital Daily —
... . Instead, plaintiffs who claim Microsoft labeled PCs “Windows Vista Capable” even though the computers were capable of running only the stripped down “Home Basic” version of the OS, must pursue their cases individually. Seems the plaintiffs were unable to convincingly demonstrate that the “Windows Vista Capable” marketing program resulted in increased sales for Microsoft, an argument essential to supporting their class action claim. ...
