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Microsoft is currently defending a lawsuit in the US, which claims the company knowingly misled consumers by allowing PC makers to put "Vista Capable" stickers on machines that could only run Vista Home Basic.

The plaintiffs claim that Vista Basic "isn't the real Vista" because it doesn't offer many of the operating system's advanced features, such as Aero Glass or Media Center. An earlier filing to the court cited PC Pro contributing editor Jon Honeyball's interview with Acer Corporate Vice President, Jim Wong, in which he claimed "Premium is the real Vista".

Now the court has heard that several Microsoft employees also shared Wong's doubts. One employee's email stated that "even a piece of junk

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will qualify" for the "Windows Vista Capable" sticker, according to court testimony reported in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

Corporate vice president, Mike Nash, was also quoted as saying: "I personally got burnt. Are we seeing this from a lot of customers? I now have a $2,100 e-mail machine."

However, perhaps the most damning email comes from former Microsoft co-president Jim Allchin, who writes: "We really botched this... You guys have to do a better job with our customers."

Microsoft claims the email exchanges don't represent the company's views on the scheme. "The e-mails cited in today's hearing are isolated, and in many instances, outdated and really just snippets of a broad and thorough review that took place during the development of the Windows Vista Capable program," says Microsoft spokesperson David Bowermaster, in a statement to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

"Throughout this review, Microsoft employees raised concerns and addressed issues with the aim of making this program better for our partners and more valuable for consumers. In the end, we believe we achieved both objectives."

US District Judge Marsha Pechman is expected to rule whether the case merits class action status next week.