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'Vista Capable' lawsuit becomes class action

by on25 February 2008

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Getting messy


A court
case against Microsoft has just got messier after a U.S. District Court Judge allowed it to become a class action.

The case alleges that Microsoft unjustly enriched itself by promoting PCs as "Windows Vista Capable" even when they could only run a bare-bones version called "Vista Home Basic." Microsoft argued that the case should not have class action status because each customer received different information at the time of purchase.

Judge Marsha Pechman granted class-action status, stating that "common issues predominate." These issues include whether Vista Home Basic can fairly be called 'Vista,' and whether Microsoft's 'Windows Vista Capable' marketing campaign inflated demand market-wide for 'Windows Vista Capable' PCs. She said it was appropriate for plaintiffs to argue as a class that Microsoft had artificially inflated demand and prices for computers only capable of running Vista Home Basic by marketing them as Vista Capable.

However, the case could not also represent buyers who participated in a related Microsoft program called "Express Upgrade," which gave consumers the right to free or low-priced upgrades to Windows Vista after it came out.
Last modified on 25 February 2008
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