Computerworld has posted some excerpts from internal Microsoft emails that seem to imply that Walmart was not happy with “Vista Home Basic.”

There’s currently a class action lawsuit over the marketing of computers that were marked “Windows Vista Capable,” even though the PCs couldn’t run all of Vista’s heavily advertised features—and instead were only able to use a limited “basic” version of the OS called “Vista Home Basic.”

From Computerworld:

Wal-Mart was particularly unhappy, both with the Vista Capable scheme, and more than that, with the fact that Microsoft was releasing Vista Home Basic, which is such a stripped-down version of the operating system that even some Microsoft officials don’t consider it Vista.

On February, 2006, Microsoft exec Robin Leonard wrote this to other Microsoft officials about what Wal-Mart had to say:

Wal-Mart was very vocal regarding the Windows Vista Capable messaging. They are extremely disappointed in the fact that standards were lowered and feel like customer confusion will ensure…They also went so far as to say that they wished Windows Vista Home Basic was not even in the sku line up. The would totally support the higher ASP, but feel that competitors will be offering Windows Vista Home Basic machines and as such they need to support that for their opening price point.

Doug Degn (EVP-Electronics) spoke about how we could be creating the biggest nightmare by giving editors the opportunity to simply say don’t buy a Windows Vista Capable machine because you can’t trust the logo.

Wal-Mart: Microsoft should kill Vista Home Basic [Computerworld]
(Photo:cpchannel)

Want more consumer news? Visit our parent organization, Consumer Reports, for the latest on scams, recalls, and other consumer issues.