Microsoft Lowered Vista Bar for Intel?

U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman unsealed documents pertaining to a federal class-action lawsuit against Microsoft claiming that Microsoft deceived the buying public about PCs containing the Windows “Vista Capable” logo, but in reality can only run Vista Basic.

The documents revealed that Microsoft lowered down the minimum specifications for PCs running Vista to accomodate a graphic chip manufactured by Intel.

Allegedly, Microsoft made the change so that Intel could meet its quarterly earnings goals in 2006.

Intel Strategy Draws New Competitors

Intel is now battling with new competitors in addition to known adversaries—AMD and IBM—making the next few years competitive for the silicon giant, reports In-Stat. Due to anticipated slower growth and lower pricing in the PC market, Intel’s key base since the 1980s, Intel is looking to new markets for growth opportunities, the high-tech market research firm says.

“Intel’s CEO, Paul Otellini, identified ultra-mobile PCs (UMPCs)/Mobile Internet Devices (MIDs), emerging markets PCs as key targets (allegedly worth US $10 billion each), and consumer electronics, giving the competition ample warning to prepare for Intel’s onslaught” says Jim McGregor, In-Stat Principal Analyst. “Intel’s expansion into emerging form factors, such as MIDs, with low-power products expands its list of competitors, particularly those in the ARM processor camp”

EMC Ready to Deliver Mission Critical Information Infrastructure for New Microsoft Platforms

EMC Corporation announced broad technology integration, consultant readiness and solution support for Windows Server 2008 and will offer similar support for SQL Server 2008 when it is generally available to customers. This commitment will enable customers to build a mission-critical EMC information infrastructure for these new Microsoft platforms.

EMC delivers Microsoft solutions and services that build upon its longstanding engineering partnership and commitment to deep interoperability testing. This extensive testing ensures customers can quickly gain the benefits of the new virtualization, management and security features of Windows Server 2008 and the advanced business intelligence and expanded data type support within SQL Server 2008.

In addition to technology readiness, the EMC Microsoft Practice within EMC Global Services has more than 600 Microsoft trained consultants helping customers plan for, deploy and leverage the new capabilities within Windows Server 2008 and SQL Server 2008.

Microsoft Reduces Price on Retail Stand-Alone Versions of Windows Vista

Microsoft announced price reductions on several consumer stand-alone editions.

The price changes will most notably impact upgrade retail versions of the new editions Microsoft introduced in 2007 — Windows Vista Home Premium and Ultimate editions.

In emerging markets, Microsoft are combining full and upgrade Home Basic and Home Premium versions into full versions of these editions and instituting price changes to meet the demand the company see among first-time Windows customers who want more functionality than is available in current Windows XP editions.

In addition, Microsoft are also adjusting pricing on Windows Vista Ultimate in emerging markets to be comparable to price changes developed market customers will see.

These price changes will take effect globally with the retail release of Windows Vista Service Pack 1 later this year, though some markets will see reduced prices sooner as a result of promotions many of our partners already are driving, such as Amazon.com in the United States.