KEY POINTS:
If we haven't heard enough already about the failings and missteps of the world's largest software maker in delivering the Window's Vista operating system, the stage is set for us to hear a whole lot more.
A decision in the US this week to throw out an appeal
by Microsoft aimed at stopping the "Vista Capable" class action lawsuit that has been mounted against it means the problems that beset Vista on its arrival last year may be picked over for the rest of the software's lifespan - or even longer.
There may be more embarrassing revelations in email exchanges that are subpoenaed by the court to add to the ones that have already emerged and revealed the misgivings Microsoft's own people and partners such as Dell had about Vista and the way it was marketed.
If you bought a "Vista Capable" computer last year only to find it ran like a dog on the new operating system, you'll be able to relate to the case lodged by disgruntled Vista users in the US.
Microsoft has firmly disputed the claims, but it seems pretty clear the company downplayed the considerable hardware requirements of Vista and wasn't clear enough in pointing out that certain features of Vista, such as the Aero 3D interface, needed more computing grunt than the basic versions.
The other problems with Vista, such as the lack of support for software drivers, have largely since been solved. But those with underpowered computers have faced the prospect of having to stump up for more memory, upgrade entirely to a new computer or dust off those old Windows XP disks and downgrade to Vista's predecessor.
But Microsoft leaders seem to be putting their Vista demons behind them and looking with optimism to the next instalment, Windows 7.
It was Microsoft founder Bill Gates himself who first dared to speak of the post-Vista world when he said a few weeks ago that Windows 7 could be completed within a year. It may be released late next year or early 2010 according to that time frame.
It's staggering that he'd even mention Windows 7 with the current generation of Windows just over a year old, millions of holdouts clinging to XP and billions of dollars in revenue flowing from Vista sales.
Microsoft's chief executive Steve Ballmer last week described Vista as a "work in progress". "There's still work to be done on Vista ... I think we did a lot of things right, and I think we have a lot of things we need to learn from," he said.
But with hints of a relatively short wait for Windows 7, of which almost nothing is publicly known yet, is Microsoft setting itself up for an even bigger fall in 2010? It seems unlikely that Microsoft's developers will have enough time to radically reinvent Windows in the next year or so, even if they were inclined to do so.
We're effectively going to be looking at Vista Mark II. Any misstep with Windows 7 then could be fatal for Microsoft, the final straw especially for those giving Vista a miss for the time being.
It seems Microsoft is at a crossroads, making a decision whether to sweep Vista aside as quickly as possible and move on to the next big thing or soldier on with Vista and accept that take-up may never be as rapid as the company had hoped. I think Microsoft has already made its decision.
The pace of software development is relentless and has been made only more so by the rise of web-based software, which can be tweaked and redeveloped centrally with haste.
In that context, Microsoft shifting its gaze to the horizon and the promise of Windows 7 is understandable.
But maybe Microsoft just needs to focus on getting Vista right, restoring confidence in an operating system that for all its flaws is still an improvement on Windows XP. In other words, maybe Microsoft needs to learn to walk before it can fly.
