HP and Microsoft in Court

It is rare that the general public is privy to the private interchanges between corporate giants. However, because of an ongoing lawsuit, some confidential email exchanges between Microsoft and HP are now a matter of public record:

“…”I can’t be more clear than to say you not only let us down by reneging on your commitment to stand behind the [device driver model] requirement, you have demonstrated a complete lack of commitment to HP as a strategic partner and cost us a lot of money in the process,” said one e-mail from Richard Walker, the senior vice president of HP’s consumer business unit, to Jim Allchin and Kevin Johnson. At the time, the two were co-presidents of Microsoft’s platforms and services unit, which oversaw Vista.”

link: HP to Microsoft: Thanks for Nothing

These court documents reveal who knew what and when concerns were raised. It provides a timeline for the sake of accountability. In following the developments of this case and the readiness of Vista, one is left with a basic query: “where is the concern for the customer using this product?“. That question used to be fundamental.

Catherine Forsythe