Microsoft played dirty two years ago in its “Vista Capable” campaign, by lowering the requirements for computers able to run Vista, and leading consumers into believing some PCs were Vista ready when they actually weren’t.

According to new court documents, Microsoft agreed to place the Vista Capable logo on Intel 915 chipsets, although in reality their performance was nowhere near Vista’s real requirements. According to e-mails exchanged between Intel and Microsoft CEOs and unveiled by the court, Intel’s Paul Otellini thanked Will Poole for the commitment to embrace 915 chipsets.

While other computer makers also seemed happy about Microsoft’s sudden decision, HP stated clearly that after making all the extra investments in Windows Display Drive Model (WDDM)-compliant chipsets, dropping the WDDM requirements was “totally unacceptable.”

HP accused Microsoft to have “bowed to pressure from a partner who would have been embarrassed in the April timeframe,” obviously making things easier for computer makers who would have been left with a lot of Vista-unready PCs.

Seeing all the e-mails, we noticed that Microsoft started going around the bush with what a truly Vista ready computer was, as opposed to computers with no WDDM, but still ”capable” of running Vista (without all the features of course).

That gave Intel some extra time to sell its remainder chips, but was unfair to consumers, who were unaware that there was a big difference between a Vista Ready computer, and a computer able to run Vista.

Whatever the reasons for Microsoft’s change may have been (although they reinstated the WDDM requirements on launch), consumers were clearly deceived in what seems to have been a secret agreement between corporations looking out for their own interests.