11.21.08
Microsoft Tries to Dodge Vista Collusions Lawsuit as Ballmer Deposition Nears
Direct link to deposition video | Full set of the deposition videos (including Ogg Theora versions)
Previously in this series:
- Might Steve Ballmer be Deposed for Collusion After All?
- The Return of Vista Collusions: Will Ballmer be Deposed Soon?
- What We Can Learn About Novell from Intel-Microsoft-Dell-Hewlett-Packard Collusions
- Windows Update has Detected the Following Lawsuits are Available for Your PC
- William Poole of NComputing (Formerly Microsoft) Blamed in the Big Collusion
- More Information About Microsoft’s and Intel’s Crimes Against Customers
Steve Ballmer seems to be getting a step closer to being deposed.
More internal Microsoft e-mails were unsealed today in the Windows Vista Capable lawsuit, detailing the wrangling that took place inside the company and across the industry before and after the operating system’s January 2007 launch. The plaintiffs are using the messages to support their contention that Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer was involved enough in decisions to warrant a deposition.
Recent evidence from the plaintiffs traces back to Microsoft’s CEO. Did Steve Ballmer lie about his level of involvement? Lies are not uncommon at Microsoft.
According to this, Microsoft is already getting cold feet. Hopefully it’s not preparing to chicken out and settle out of court, just as it did with Caldera and the state of Iowa, which soon had to destroy all the evidence (as part of the settlement).
Microsoft seeks to end Vista lawsuit
Documents turned over in the case show Microsoft executives opposing a decision to lower the standards for the Vista Capable designation, with former Windows chief Jim Allchin saying in one e-mail that he believed the Vista Capable program would mislead consumers.
Here is another revealing nugget of information that comes with unsealing/unveiling of more material.
According to some newly released court documents in the “Vista Capable” class-action lawsuit, Microsoft was worried about comparisons between its newest OS and the Mac OS before Vista was even out, and before Apple starting joking about it (”Redmond, start your photocopiers.”)
Innovation in this case is typically a lie because Microsoft was caught systematically learning from and copying Apple. In general, Microsoft typically claims credit for other people’s inventions [1, 2] by framing patents and putting them up on the wall.
Witness the sheer annoyance at Hewlett-Packard, which absorbed customer outage for this fiasco.
In an e-mail message after Windows Vista’s release, Hewlett-Packard Chief Executive Mark Hurd complained to Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer about the computer maker’s “call lines being overrun” with customers’ Windows Vista upgrade problems, according to a court filing made public late Wednesday in the Windows Vista Capable lawsuit.
It is far from a closed case and there are hundreds of pages of evidence, which are worth digging for secrets from inside Microsoft. It’s getting rather ugly, so it’s hardly surprising that Microsoft tries to end it as soon as possible. █
“Idiots can be defeated but they never admit it.”
–Richard Stallman
Highlight: Novell was the first to acknowledge that Microsoft FUD tactics had substance. Novell then used anti-Linux FUD to market itself. 
Highlight: Xandros let Microsoft make patent claims and brag about (paid-for) OOXML support. 
Highlight: Linspire's CEO not only fell into Microsoft arms, but he also assisted the company's attack on GNU/Linux. 
Highlight: Microsoft craves pseudo (proprietary) standards and gets its way using proxies and influence which it buys. 
Highlight: The invasion into the open source world is intended to leave Linux companies neglected, due to financial incentives from Microsoft. 
Analysis: Xen, an open source hypervisor, possibly fell victim to Microsoft's aggressive (and stealthy) acquisition-by-proxy strategy.
Victor Soliz said,
November 21, 2008 at 11:47 am
I would be sad if Ballmer was deposed, I was very confident that if there was a person able to destroy Microsoft, it was him, I can only hope they would replace him with someone more inept.
Roy Schestowitz said,
November 21, 2008 at 2:03 pm
I’ve just found some more here:
HP CEO e-mailed Ballmer about Vista Capable
http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/microsoft/archives/154985.asp?source=rss
Internal e-mails: Microsoft execs on Vista
http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/microsoft/archives/155036.asp?source=rss
Needs Sunlight said,
November 22, 2008 at 4:20 am
The word “deposed” has different meanings depending on the context. Many are used to discussing M$ as an empire and thus deposed in that context has more to do with kicking Ballmer’s fat, incompetent ass out of his job. (Rather he should be allowed to ride the crumbling monstrosity down into the dirt as no doubt his college buddy Bill probably intended.)
However in legal parlance deposed means Ballmer’s fat, incompetent ass must sit in court and answer questions under oath by squirting hot air through one orifice or another:
http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/microsoft/archives/155137.asp
The video clips of Bill are always classic. His personality really shows in other clips, but those are more peripheral parts of his testimony.