Have you ever wondered what are the reasons behind Windows Vista crashes? I’m sure you did! Now the folks from Ars Tehnica revealed that in the 158 page pack of emails that was released as part of the Vista Capable lawsuit, there is information indicating that sometime in 2007, 30% of Vista crashes happened due to Nvidia drivers. More specifically, Nvidia caused 479,000 crashes out of a total of 1,663,748 logged by Microsoft last year on an unspecified period of time.

The second spot went to Microsoft drivers that were respnsible for  17.9% of crushes, while ATI is third with 9.3%. Intel takes fourth place with 8.8%.

”Microsoft takes exhaustive steps in testing hardware compatibility internally, as well as by working directly with our partners, to address compatibility long before customers experience an issue, ” Microsoft representatives recently stated. ”However, testing can only be conducted under so many different circumstances, particularly with such an exceptionally complex code that graphic drivers have. Understanding this, Microsoft has set up a system to help quickly identify the problems, work to fix them and, if warranted, potentially push them through to customers via Windows Update. NVIDIA has taken similar steps, and since launching Windows Vista, Microsoft has seen great progress in addressing potential issues by NVIDIA.”

Last month, U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman ruled that the consumers may go ahead with a class action lawsuit against the software company Microsoft over “Vista Capable” advertising program.

Still some users claim that they were unaware that Vista Capable PC meant that only Windows Vista Basic will run on these computers.

Introduced in 2006, Vista Capable program was initiated by Microsoft and its hardware partners in order to help the customers to make informed decision when buying a new PC and to maintain the sales of Windows XP systems during the 2006 holiday season.

Windows Vista was released to the public in January 2007 and so far Microsoft said it has sold over 100 million licensees. Earlier this month, the Redmond-based company released Windows Vista Service Pack 1, its first update for Windows Vista since it was launched.