A consumer lawsuit filed against Microsoft states that the company’s late-inning changes to the definition of a Vista Capable personal computer destroyed the company’s credibility with hardware manufacturers such as Hewlett-Packard, which invested heavily in components designed to meet the original definition of the OS.

As evidence, e-mails from Microsoft executives or HP executives were filed and they revealed concerns by Microsoft insiders and outsiders that the company eased specifications for a Vista Capable PC prior to Vista’s debut in early 2007 in order to satisfy Intel, which was given a large inventory of graphics components that did not meet the original requirements for Vista. This, however, did not go well with HP, which developed two motherboards specifically for the OS.

One of the e-mails, sent by HP consumer PC executive Richard Walker to former Microsoft co-presidents Jim Allchin and Kevin Johnson, expressed HP’s upset because it invested in such motherboards like no other manufacturer: “The decision you have made and communicated has taken away an investment we made consciously for competitive advantage knowing that some players would choose not to make the same level of investment as we did in supporting your program requirements.” The situation in which Microsoft put HP was described by Allchin as “a mess.” This was mentioned in an e-mail Allchin sent to Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, who was unwilling to accept any blame for the problems.

Microsoft appears to have changed in such manner that Intel, a longtime Microsoft partner, could meet its quarterly earning goals in 2006. The Intel 915 graphics chipset is a PC component that boosts a system’s ability to display multimedia effects. However, it lacks the necessary features to support Vista’s 3-D Aero interface.

Basically, Microsoft is accused of deceptive marketing practices. The company is thought to have intentionally duped customers by advertising as Vista capable computers that lacked the horsepower to run all of the OS’s features. However, Microsoft has argued that it did not deceive consumers because the Vista Capable campaign distinguished between PCs that could run the basic version of the OS and those able to run the premium version.