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Vista Branding Confusing Even To Microsoft
Trotti Laganna writes "Lawyers are now arguing a case brought against Microsoft over Vista's marketing. The software giant is being dinged for allegedly not telling the truth when it put the 'Vista capable' logo on PCs that would only be capable of running Vista Home Basic. Case in point - even the software giant's marketing director Mark Croft was confused by the pre-launch campaign in the United States. Croft's explanation was that "'capable'...has an interpretation for many that, in the context of this program, a PC would be able to run any version of the Windows operating system". After a 10-minute break to talk to Microsoft's lawyers, Croft admitted he had made 'an error', and retracted his previous statement, saying that, by 'capable', Microsoft meant 'able to run a version of Vista'."
Capable is very much a vague term, it does not mean 'able'. I think the sticker is seen as a certificate to some. It's a badge of office, so it should be a little more thought out. There is more info here on what the dictionary thinks capable is: http://s5h.net/u?14
Why UNIX?
Once again, M$ screws up, we pay the consequences. Especially when my grandma got a new computer that said "capable of running vista" it couldnt even run glass or what ever. 1gb of RAM, on-board video & audio, and a centerion processor... Also, Final Fantasy 11 hardly worked! Go look at the specs yourself! >.... So my other grandma got a "Vista Capable" computer with an NVIDIA 8800, and an Intel Quad Core processor and 4 gb of RAM. I really need to learn how to type more fluently... but meh its too early for that.
No, that's crap.
... No... The implication is that the PC will run Vista. And it does.
Is Vista Home is STILL vista. If it can run Vista, then it's capable of running vista.
I have a pilots license. I'm certified capable to fly a number of different type of aircraft, but that's not enumerated on the license itself. Just because I'm a pilot doesn't mean I can fly an F-22 or a 747.
I'm capable of getting a date. I'm engaged. Just because I'm reasonably attractive doesn't mean I can date Jessica Alba.
These are flawed analogies but they illustrate a larger point: Absolutes are rare. Everyone knows this. Oh, and caveat emptor.
You're just trying to stick it to Microsoft because they said something that has a certain amount of ambiguity to it. The fact is that Home Basic, hell, Windows Vista Living-Out-Of-Car Pre-Basic Edition is STILL VISTA. You say "the implication is that if I buy a copy of Vista, it will work"
And just like I said in my first post... If Microsoft only put "vista capable" stickers on PC's capable of running Ultimate, you and others here would be complaining that they're just manipulating people into buying more PC than they need.
This is just a classic Slasdhot-sticks-it-to-MSFT thing. I'm cool with that. I'm not the biggest Microsoft fan myself. They're just a company to me, and so is Apple and so is Google. I have no love or animosity for any of those companies. I make judgment calls on their merits, and not as an opportunity to show my fanboy colors.