Federal judge Marsha Penchman has granted class action status to a lawsuit claiming that Microsoft artificially inflated demand for PCs at the end of of 2006 by labeling them "Windows Vista Capable" when they were only able to run Vista Home Basic and few of the advanced features Microsoft widely promoted as part of Windows Vista. Penchman’s ruling found several common issues unify cases, although she narrowed the terms under which plaintiffs can proceed with their suits.
"These common issues [..] are whether Vista Home Basic, in truth, can fairly be called ‘Vista’ and whether Microsoft’s ‘Windows Vista Capable’ marketing campaign inflated demand market-wide for ‘Windows Vista Capable’ PCs," Penchman wrote in her ruling.
