Vista Capable vs. Vista Ready Lawsuit

There’s a lawsuit against Microsoft (oh wait..just one lawsuit right now?) that pertains to the little stickers you will often see on store-bought computers regarding the OS that is installed.  A lot of these machines bear the VISTA READY status that basically says, “Hey, I either have Vista or can use Vista in any shape, form or fashion!”.  The VISTA CAPABLE basically says, “Hey, I can run Vista to some degree.”

Unfortunately, the consumer (as usual) never reads the fine print or the system requirements for the software they choose to use.  If you’re a power user like myself, you know that your computer can handle any piece of software that is thrown its way.  Some people are either forced to get a cheaper model due to financial constraints or they’re just flat out cheap.  This law suit was obviously filed by someone who’s flat out cheap or someone who is trying exploit the natural stupidity of humanity regarding reading requirements and instructions.  Ok, I’ll admit it.  Sometimes I don’t read instructions either.  Like when my kids get some new toy with a 20 page instruction manual.  It usually gets taken apart four or five times before I get it right.  I pat myself on the back for having read the instructions before I put together their new swing set 2 weeks ago though.  Couldn’t have a kid swinging and then watching as something gives way, causing them to fly over the fence and into the woods.  Granted, I’d be concerned but I’d also have a laugh but that’s neither here nor there.

Each piece of software that you can use on your computer comes with a small box of text on the bottom of the package called SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS.  If you read this, you’ll know if your computer can handle the software adequately enough to make use of it.  If your computer isn’t up to par with the requirements, you can either upgrade your computer or put the software back on the shelf and walk away.  For some reason, there are many people out there who disregard the system requirements before trying to install the software, only to realize that it runs very slowly if it even runs at all.  Enter Windows Vista, the most resource intensive Windows-based OS yet.  It comes in several flavors and every version but BASIC comes with the AERO interface.  What’s AERO?  It just makes things pretty.  Otherwise it’s a worthless resource hog.  Apparently some people didn’t read the system requirements for AERO and are disappointed, nay, downright angry that AERO doesn’t function on their cheap, economy computer.  On the front of their computer it said VISTA CAPABLE.  That’s like buying a Honda Fit and suing them because you expect better 0-60 times.  A VISTA CAPABLE computer will absolutely run Vista, but it won’t run AERO.  Why?  Because it most likely had the cheapest integrated video chipset that money can buy and doesn’t have the “umph” to render the graphics correctly.  Does this make the computer less able to run Vista and run it well?  No.  In fact, on my computer, I have several operating systems installed and Vista Ultimate is one of them.  Even with a fast dual core processor and 4 gigs of RAM, I still turn off AERO because I hate things hogging my system resources.

The end result is that Microsoft will probably end up taking a bath on this simply because Microsoft takes a bath on most of the lawsuits filed against it.  And the moron who didnt’ read the system requirements will be compensated for his stupidity.  But that’s what society does in this day and age.  We reward those who lack intellect or in this case the ability to read.

~ by jhurst747 on 10 April 2008.