A judge last week ruled that Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer would have to testify in a class action suit over the "Vista Capable" logo program that Microsoft ran ahead of the launch of Windows Vista.
Steve Ballmer
(Credit: Microsoft)
Microsoft had sought to limit depositions in the case to former Windows executives Jim Allchin and Will Poole, both of whom have since left the company. However, the judge ruled against the software maker.
"The court appreciates that there are severe demands on Mr. Ballmer's time; however, a busy schedule cannot 'shield' an executive from discovery," Judge Marsha J. Pechman said in her ruling, which was posted on the Seattle Post-Intelligencer website.
The plaintiffs in the case have argued that Microsoft was misleading in labeling certain machines as Vista Capable even though they lacked the graphics power to run the operating system's more advanced features.
Ballmer will have to be deposed for no more than three hours some time within the next 30 days, Pechman ruled.
Playing devils advocate here... perhaps Vista "Capable" does not equivocate to recommended. The machines referenced in this article couldn't run the 'advanced features' but it could be assumed it could run the basic ones.
Still, I would consider it misleading if i purchased a 'vista capable' machine and couldn't run all of its functions, but i wouldn't put it past Microsoft to try to argue the above.