Was Intel behind the Vista 'junk PC' scheme?

The real mover behind the ill-fated "Vista Capable PC" scheme may be Intel, not Microsoft, recent emails in the Vista "junk PC" lawsuit reveal. A Microsoft exec, in one of those emails, says that the scheme was launched to help Intel meet its quarterly earnings by selling older chipsets that couldn't properly run Vista. Below are all the details, including email excerpts, and Microsoft back-biting about who was to blame.

The recently unsealed Microsoft emails are part of the lawsuit against Microsoft for a marketing scheme in which people claim that Microsoft misled consumers into buying the Windows Vista Capable PCs, even though the PCs couldn't run the most important features of Vista.

Many of the emails show that Microsoft execs themselves were not at all happy with the marketing scheme, and it appears that they launched it to help Intel sell an aging chipset and meet quarterly earnings numbers. The chipset in question, 915, was not capable of running Windows Aero. The problem, though, was that Intel had lots of those chips in inventory, and needed to sell them in order to hit its earnings.

Microsoft's John Kalkman makes clear in an an email to Scott Di Valerio, who was in charge of the company's relations with PC makers, that the Vista Capable PC scheme was being launched on behalf of Intel. Here's an excerpt from the email:

In the end, we lowered the requirement to help Intel make their quarterly earnings so they could continue to sell motherboards with the 915 graphics embedded. This in turn did two things: 1. Decreased focus of OEMs planning and shipping higher end graphics for Vista-ready programs and 2. Reduced the focus by IHV's to ready great WHQL [Windows Hardware Quality Labs] qualified graphics drivers. We can see this today with Intel's inability to ship a compelling full featured 945 graphics driver for Windows Vista.

Later on in the email. Kalkman admits the Vista Capable scheme was a mistake:

...it was a mistake on our part to change the original graphics requirements. This created confusion in the industry on how important the visual aspects of visual computing would play as a feature set to new Windows Vista upgraders.

Other Microsoft execs appear to be furious with Intel over the matter. Mike Ybarra, wrote in an email to then Windows chief Allchin:

"Jim, I am passionate about this and believe this decision [to launch the Vista Capable scheme] is a mistake.

We are caving to Intel. We worked hard the last 18 months to drive the UI experience and we are giving this up. The OEMs are behind us here, we have the support we need to drive this experience on today's hardware."

In fact, Ybarra notes, computer makers were upset with the Vista Capable decision as well. He continues in the email:

We are really burning HP --- who committed to work with us to drive the UI experience across platforms and have already made significant investments. Other OEMs have made bets against this as well.

These three things just don't add up to me. We are allowing Intel to drive our customer experience. The OEMs support our goals here and they've made graphics investments to drive the UI experience with consumers. I don't understand why we would cave on this when the potential to drive the full UI experience is right in front of us.

Allchin was furious about the scheme, and excoriated several other Microsoft execs over the matter. He wrote this in a February 1, 2006 email to Microsoft execs Will Poole, Ken Goetsch, and Scott Di Valerio:

We really botched this. I was not involved in this decision process and I will support it because I trust you thinking through the logic.

BUT, you guys have to do a better job with our customers than what I was shown here.

This was especially true because you put me out on limb making a commitment. This is not OK.

Intel, by the way, denies that it had anything to do with pushing Microsoft to launch the Vista Capable scheme. Tod Bishop reports on his blog for the Seattle Post Intelligence that Intel spokesman Chuck Mulloy said "We don't know who John Kalkman is. We do know he's not qualified to know anything about internal Intel financials or forecasts related to chipsets, motherboards or any other products." He added that Kalkman "would have no visibility into our financial needs in any given quarter."

If you're looking for more background about the Vista junk PC suit, check out my blogs More dirt in the Vista 'junk PC' lawsuit, Microsoft exec: Vista-Capable PCs are "junk", Here's how to become part of the Vista 'junk' PC lawsuit, and the Computerworld article, Microsoft execs struggled with Vista too, say internal e-mails.

Related Posts:

• Five unanswered questions in the Vista 'junk PC' lawsuit. 3/3/08
• Microsoft exec: We know users hate UAC. 3/2/08
• More dirt in the Vista 'junk PC' lawsuit, 2/28/08
• Here's how to become part of the Vista 'junk' PC lawsuit, 2/25/08
• Bought a Vista-Capable 'junk' PC? You may be in luck, 2/24/08
• Microsoft exec: Vista-Capable PCs are "junk", 2/13/08