Ballmer Ordered to Give Deposition in Vista Capable Suit

According to PCWorld a federal judge has ordered Microsoft CEO, Steve Ballmer, to appear in court to testify in the class action Vista Capable case. According to the report, Judge Marsha Pechman said the Microsoft boss has unique personal knowledge of facts surrounding the case, and so, must face questioning.

The Vista Capable case has been running for months now and claims that many machines carrying the Vista Capable label are only able to run the most basic version of the Windows operating system.

While Microsoft initially tried to block the deposition (ComputerWorld reports that the Redmond company argued Ballmer had no unique knowledge of the Vista Capable program, which the company ran in 2006), the company has said it will comply with the order.

According to ComputerWorld, Ballmer said in a declaration in October that he was not involved in any of the operational discussions about Vista.

"I was not involved in any of the operational decisions about the Windows Vista Capable program," Ballmer said.

"I was not involved in establishing the requirements computers must satisfy to qualify for the Windows Vista Capable program,” he continued. “I was not involved in formulating any marketing strategy or any public messaging surrounding the Windows Vista Capable program," the CEO finished.

Ballmer has 30 days to give a deposition.

Related Links

PCWorld ComputerWorld