Microsoft forcing PC makers to make Vista PC's non-XP compatible, how is that legal?

If you need to buy a new PC -- maybe your current one is old or you just need to upgrade -- the only way you can stick with Windows XP is to custom order it, because all the PC's in the stores (Best Buy, Office Depot, OfficeMax, Staples, etc.) come with Vista installed... AND they are INCOMPATIBLE with Windows XP, because you cannot find XP drivers for the new machines.

I looked into this some more and learned that Microsoft REQUIRED these manufacturers to NOT make XP drivers available in order to use the "Vista ready" logo on them. So this way, Microsoft could FORCE buyers to adapt Vista.

Meanwhile, rumors are that Vista is being rejected by the public so much that Microsoft is going to discontinue that failed product, and instead come out with Windows 9 (basically XP3).

How is this legal, that Microsoft can ONCE AGAIN pull this monopolistic control and take away consumer choice, even for their OWN products?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080227/ap_o...

Microsoft forcing PC makers to make Vista PC's non-XP compatible, how is that legal?norton ghost

Original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) do not generally produce drivers. In the Windows world, drivers are produced by the companies that actually design and produce the hardware, like your graphics card(s) or network card(s). Let's say you have a desktop, and it has an nVidia video card. You want new drivers, you go to nvidia.com, not microsoft.com. You have an Intel network card, you go to intel.com.