Microsoft Bosses ’burned’ By Vista

Private Microsoft emails unearthed during a US court case have revealed that even the software giants own executives struggled to get Windows Vista running smoothly.

Early adopters of the operating system, which launched last year, battled with widespread hardware and software compatibility issues. Many PCs initially sold as "Vista Capable" were unable to run some of Vistas core features, sparking a class action lawsuit against Microsoft.

Many computer components and peripherals required updated drivers in order to work with Vista. In numerous cases these were not available until long after the operating system launched.

But the emails show that it wasnt just end-users who were incensed by Vistas teething issues. In fact, Microsofts top brass were fully aware of them from the outset.

One executive, Mike Nash, complained he was "burned" so badly by compatibility issues he was left with "a $2100 email machine".

Steven Sinofsky, the Microsoft executive in charge of Windows, struggled to even get his home printer working with Vista. In an email to Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer in February last year, Sinofsky outlined reasons why Vista struggled at launch.

He said hardware and software vendors never "really believed we would ever ship [Vista] so they didnt start the work [on updated drivers] until very late in 2006".

"People who rely on using all the features of their hardware (like Jons Nikon scanner) will not see availability for some time, if ever, depending on the [manufacturer]," Sinofsky wrote.

Ballmer responded with a terse "Righto".

The "Jon" referred to is Microsoft board member and its former chief operating officer Jon Shirley, who experienced compatibility problems with his Epson printer and scanner and his Nikon film scanner.

He could not even get some of Microsofts own MSN software products to work on Vista and refused to upgrade his other computer to the operating system.

"I cannot understand with a product this long in creation why there is such a shortage of drivers," Shirley wrote to Ballmer.

Other emails from various Microsoft executives show that even they struggled to work out what "Vista Capable" and "Vista Ready" meant when buying a new PC.

"Is it true that Vista Ready doesnt necessarily mean Aero capable? I got a Dell Latitude that is Vista Ready but doesnt have enough graphics [hardware]," Sinofsky wrote.

Aero, one of Vistas most heavily marketed features, is the operating systems new graphical interface. It resembles MacOS X but can only be enabled when running on a PC with the latest graphics hardware.

In a statement regarding the release of the emails, Microsoft spokesman Jack Evans said employees had raised concerns with Vista in order to make the program better for customers.

"Thats the sort of exchange we want to encourage. And in the end, we believe we succeeded in achieving both objectives," Evans said.

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