Why the Vista Capable Lawsuit Has No Class
link: original article - section: windows
The Windows Vista Capable lawsuit is over, but it shouldn't be.
Last week's declassification—meaning removable of class-action status—effectively ends the lawsuit. There's bark, but not much bite left. But the bark could still be plenty bothersome to Microsoft, should the plaintiffs succeed getting more of the company's internal e-mails released.
From a public relations perspective, the lawsuit has been nightmarish for Microsoft. The scads of released e-mails either show incompetence, conspiracy or, gasp, both about Windows Vista product management from 2004-2006. Seriously, there's slapstick comedy behind the amount of Windows Vista bungling.
I'm purposely late blogging about the lawsuit's declassification, as I wanted to take some time for thoughtful analysis. I've got some. Quickly, in summation:
* Plaintiff lawyers didn't tell the story clearly coming from disclosed e-mails. Somebody was wronged here.
* The real story, apparent collusion between Intel and Microsoft over the standard of art for graphics chipsets, probably explains why Windows Vista missed holiday 2006.
* The European Union is investigating Intel for antitrust violations. The classless Microsoft case here still could be problematic for Intel on the Continent.
