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, the Associated Press informs.

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 for consumers was launched in January 2007.

However, the lawsuit claims that the labeling system was “misleading” because many of those computers were not powerful enough to run all of Vista's features and they could run only the Home Basic version of Windows Vista.

According to SeattlePi.com, Pechman narrowed the basis on which plaintiffs could move forward with their claims.  She ruled that the plaintiffs could not pursue a class-action lawsuit on the basis that consumers had been deceived because "an individualized analysis is necessary to determine what role Microsoft's 'Windows Vista Capable' marketing program played in each class members' purchasing decision."

According to Microsoft’s Get Ready website, a PC carrying a Vista Capable sticker is “a new PC running Windows XP that carries the Windows Vista Capable PC logo can run Windows Vista. All editions of Windows Vista will deliver core experiences such as innovations in organizing and finding information, security, and reliability. All Windows Vista Capable PCs will run these core experiences at a minimum. Some features available in the premium editions of Windows Vista—like the new Windows Aero user experience—may require advanced or additional hardware.”

In order to qualify as a Vista Capable PC, a PC should include at least: a modern processor (at least 800MHz), 512 MB of system memory, and a graphics processor that is DirectX 9 capable.

As a part of the same program, Microsoft also introduced Windows Vista Premium Ready PCs stickers.

According to Microsoft, a Premium Ready PC is capable of running the Windows Aero user experience. It should include 1 GHz 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor, 1 GB of system memory, support for DirectX 9 graphics with a WDDM driver, 128 MB of graphics memory (minimum), Pixel Shader 2.0 and 32 bits per pixel, 40 GB of hard drive capacity with 15 GB free space, DVD-ROM Drive, audio output capability and Internet access capability.

A Microsoft spokesperson said in statement quoted SeattlePi.com that the company is currently reviewing the ruling.