Microsoft may soon be defending itself from a class action lawsuit over its "Vista Capable" marketing campaign, and several of the vendor"s channel partners aren"t the least bit surprised. Microsoft launched the Vista Capable campaign in order to keep PC sales strong after its decision to delay the release of Vista to consumers until after the 2006 holiday season. Consumers who bought a PC with the "Vista Capable" sticker would get an XP machine and then later be eligible for a free or discounted upgrade to Vista.
What the campaign didn"t specify was which of the four versions of Vista -- Home Basic, Home Premium, Business, or Ultimate -- a PC was capable of running. And according to solution providers, therein lies the rub.