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Aaah, but look at the link, sappyvcv. It does not grant downgrade-rights to OEM. Downgrade-rights to OEM is something which is something Microsoft just started. Windows under other licenses than OEM have been downgradable all the time, but this is a first for OEM-versions (with the exception of XP Pro, Windows 2003, Windows Small Business Server 2003 Premium Edition, Vista Business and Vista Ultimate).

Your link states following (for applications):
The OEM License Terms for OEM versions of applications software do not grant downgrade rights.

For operating systems:

The OEM License Terms for most OEM versions of systems software do not grant downgrade rights.

and then the exceptions:

The exception is the OEM License Terms for the Windows® XP Professional operating system and the Windows Vista™ Business and Windows Vista Ultimate operating systems, which grant downgrade rights.

And the last missing downgrade-rights:

The OEM License Terms for most OEM versions of server software do not grant downgrade rights.

And the exceptions: The exceptions are the OEM License Terms for the Windows Server® 2003 operating system products and Windows Small Business Server 2003 Premium Edition, which grant downgrade rights.

Hey buddy, read the story link:

The program applies only to Windows Vista Business and Ultimate versions, and it is up to PC makers to decide how, if at all, they want to make XP available.

Hm.. where does that sound familiar? Oh yeah, my link! Jesus, did you even read?

Aah yes. And yes. Did read your link. Did not read the article closely enough. Sowwy about that.

It's cool, been guilty of it myself a few times.

It's a Microsoft thing.. when in doubt, it's their fault.

Good point, has anyone ever expected optimized drivers for their hardware? They already provide a very extensive driver base in order to get things set up, after that it has almost always been up to the user to install the enhanced drivers FROM the manufacturer. I can not think of one instance where there is an expectation of this.

So are they now to do ALL driver development for every piece of hardware?. As orestes says, they just need to "get off their bums and write them themselves"

And more appropriately when has Microsoft ever had any "optimized" drivers at all? They generally just have drivers that provide just the basic functionality of the hardware. The user almost always has to install the drivers that come with their hardware device.

I guess one of the main exceptions would be hard drive manufacturers, but then that usually is the IDE/SATA/SCSI controller that actually controls that, so usually it's the motherboard or controller card manufacturer who creates the optimized drivers and Windows just has a basic/generic one.

Funny, it's my being pissed off with half-assed vendor support on *nix that led to my initial post. It's not a defense of Vista in particular, it's a glaring condemnation of lazy vendors pawning off their responsibility onto others.

Your posts can be counted on twisting things around to try to make Microsoft look evil and Linux look perfect, regardless of reality. If your trolling wasn't so transparent, it would be funny.

In no way is an OS manufacturer/developer responsible for supporting everyone's devices with drivers they write: an OS manufacturer/developer is only responsible to ensure that the OS can boot off of lowest common denominator hardware, and for that, sometimes external drivers are required. Beyond that, an OS manufacturer/developer is responsible for providing proper documentation for making it feasible for hardware manufacturers to support their own hardware, and you certainly can't fault Microsoft for that (though your posting history indicates you will try to find some twisted path to do so) because they provide easily accessed documentation for developing drivers, for free.