A FEDERAL JUDGE in Seattle, Washington certified a lawsuit pending against Microsoft as a class action last Friday, letting plaintiffs pursue claims that the Vole's labeling of some computers loaded with Windows XP as "Windows Vista Capable" unfairly misled consumers.

The lawsuit alleges that Microsoft's label was misleading because many of the computers weren't capable of running the full version of Vista.

However, US District Judge Marsha Pechman disallowed the major claim that punters were harmed by buying computers that could only run Vista Basic.

She noted that neither of the named plaintiffs enrolled in Microsoft's " Express Upgrade" program to allow people who purchased "Vista Capable" computers before Vista's launch to later upgrade to Vista. She found that those plaintiffs therefore couldn't possibly show that their computers weren't able to run the full version of Vista.

The judge did leave open the possibility that the plaintiffs could add another named plaintiff who had participated in the "Express Upgrade" program, in which case she would allow that claim to proceed. Call it a broad judicial hint.

But for now, the remaining claims that the judge certified to go forward relate to whether Microsoft's "Windows Vista Capable" labels had artificially boosted computer sales during the 2006 holiday buying season and jacked up prices for computers sold with Windows XP that couldn't later be upgraded to run the full version of Vista after its launch in early 2007.

Microsoft said it's reviewing the judge's ruling. The Vole also might be ordering the printing of software discount coupons like it's used in the past to buy its way out of previous consumer class action lawsuits. µ

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