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More inside dirt coming in Vista suit?

Microsoft is huddling with hardware makers this week to prepare for the next Windows version, but  the company's lawyers are still dealing with the legal aftermath of Windows Vista's 2007 launch. A federal judge in Seattle could rule any day now on a series of pivotal issues in the class-action lawsuit over Microsoft's "Windows Vista Capable" program. 

One of those issues: Whether to unseal another big batch of internal documents turned over by Microsoft in the case.

Previous disclosures in the lawsuit revealed Microsoft executives privately wringing their hands over Windows Vista's hardware and software compatibility problems, even as the company publicly trumpeted Vista as the next big thing. Internal e-mail messages also suggested that Microsoft succumbed to pressure from Intel to lower the hardware requirements for the "Windows Vista Capable" designation, to include processors that couldn't run the operating system's most-advanced features.

It's not clear what remains to be revealed. But lawyers for the plaintiffs submitted a large collection of documents, under seal, to support a motion for partial summary judgment in late September. U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman is considering whether to unseal at least a portion of those documents, making them available for public review.

Coincidentally, Microsoft will be meeting with PC and device makers at the Windows Hardware Engineering Conference this week in Los Angeles to get them geared up for Windows 7 -- hoping to avoid the compatibility mess that followed Vista's debut.

In some ways, the task will be easier this time around. Windows 7, due in early 2010, represents not nearly the dramatic overhaul that Windows Vista did. But because of the hardware problems experienced during Windows Vista's launch, the company is under intense pressure to make sure things go smoothly.

WinHEC, as it's known, kicks off Wednesday morning. Speakers include Windows engineering chief Steven Sinofsky, whose February 2007 post-mortem about the Windows Vista launch -- also disclosed in the court case -- called for a series of changes in the way Microsoft works with hardware vendors. He wrote that many device drivers weren't ready upon Windows Vista's launch because a series of delays had made hardware vendors skeptical about Microsoft's release schedule.

Among other things, Sinofsky wrote at the time, the company needed "much more clarity and focus at events like WinHEC."

From a public-relations standpoint, Microsoft would no doubt prefer than any new Windows Vista revelations didn't come during the WinHEC week. But it's not clear precisely when Pechman will rule. In addition to the sealed documents, the judge is weighing requests by the plaintiffs to depose Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, and to send out their class-action notice via the Windows Update system normally used to distribute security patches.

Microsoft is opposing the Ballmer deposition and that proposed method of distribution. But based on the principles applied previously in the case, it appears likely that many of the documents will be unsealed.

The lawsuit resulted from the Windows Vista Capable stickers and marketing program that Microsoft used prior to the operating system’s January 2007 retail launch -- after Windows Vista's debut was delayed beyond the 2006 holiday shopping season. The idea was to assure computer users that the PCs they were buying would be able to run Windows Vista when it came out.

However, the suit alleges that many of those machines were improperly given the "Vista Capable" designation, because they didn’t support many of the operating system’s signature features, such as a 3D file-browsing capability and the glossy Aero Glass interface. The plaintiffs are consumers who bought new PCs before the retail launch.

Microsoft disputes the allegations and says it communicated clearly the capabilities and limitations of the different Windows Vista versions.