Microsoft and Sony clash over Vista support of Intel’s Turbo Memory
Sony is claiming that the current release of Vista does not support Intel’s Turbo Memory technology, although Microsoft has dismissed the allegation. If Sony is right, Microsoft may have opened itself to being sued for deceptive marketing practices.
Turbo Memory is an optional component of Intel’s Centrino Pro/Duo platform, and designed to utilize features of Windows Vista, such as ReadyBoost and ReadyDrive to boost performance and start-up time. The technology also increases battery life for notebooks in Windows Vista.
Manufacturers like Dell, Asus, Acer and Toshiba are reportedly offering notebooks with Turbo Memory technology.
However, Sony has told ZDNet.co.uk that it will not include Intel’s Turbo Memory (known by its codename “Robson”) in its upcoming Vaio notebooks.
Sony sees no customer benefit at this moment in integrating Robson in its notebooks, as Robson memory requires the assistance of the operating system.
“Only Vista is capable, and the first release does not have the support integrated. The issue is that the OS needs to learn what to load into the Robson memory in order to increase performance,” Sony said.
Microsoft denied Sony’s concerns. The company told ZDNet.co.uk that Sony’s claims were incorrect.
“Windows Vista supports Intel’s Turbo Memory, and Microsoft and Intel have worked together to ensure that Turbo Memory works with Windows Vista technologies. There are no issues which we are aware of that would prevent [manufacturers] from adopting Turbo Memory for great performance results with Windows Vista.”
But Sony has defended its stance. David Spaeth, product specialist for the Vaio range, claimed the omission of Vista support for Turbo Memory arose to avoid further delay of the OS released.
Vista currently cannot recognize which kinds of processes and files need to be preloaded into Turbo Memory, Spaeth said. In effect, users cannot enjoy the performance and benefits offered by Turbo Memory even if their machine is Turbo Memory enabled.
If Sony is right, Microsoft could be sued for deceptive marketing practice. Users can be unforgiving, especially if they don’t get what they’re paying for.
June 10th, 2007
Outrageous! I want my money back.
June 10th, 2007
Oh sony.. stop being poor sports. Just because Microsoft is slaping you silly with its xbox 360 gives you no right to make stupid allegations.
I dont see Intel complaining!
June 10th, 2007
Well, of couse Intel is not complaining. It benefits them as well duh !
June 10th, 2007
It can’t be true, why would Microsoft claim their OS could do something it couldn’t? If it were true, Microsoft would be guilty of deceptive marketing.
June 10th, 2007
Whatever the outcome may be, it will be interesting. Developers in Microsoft are not that forgetful, I suppose… at least not all of them. However, engineers in Sony are not supposed to be so careless that they somehow forgot to read the manual (or specifications). So, let’s see who wins the 2007 Most Stupidest Company Award! :P
June 10th, 2007
Microsoft Vista is the new Win ME, and MS is trying to win back market share lost to Linux and OSX.
June 10th, 2007
“Stupidest Company Award?” What? Do you think Sony can win it BACK from Microsoft?
June 10th, 2007
This coming from the company that said “Most people, I think, don’t even know what a rootkit is, so why should they care about it?”
I’ll trust Sony when pigs fly.
June 10th, 2007
HP isn’t bothering with Robson either. Actual RAM is far more useful anyways.
June 11th, 2007
Company X claimed something *against* Microsoft, so it has to be true: this is how ignorants’ mind works and I can see there are many around here. Well, have fun until November, because then SP1 will be released and, regardless if Turbo Memory is already supported by Vista or not, it will be by then and you’ll all have to make up something else to fill up your miserable lifes bashing Vista because you know nothing about it, and it’s pretty clear that you’re running out of (lame) excuses to bash Vista.
June 11th, 2007
WTF??? Since when did the religion of OS become a religion? If you need a religion (poor you…) then go get at least a REAL religion!!! Something that has claimed the lives of millions would be nice. Forget that damned OS crap.
P.S.
Vista sucks.
January 3rd, 2013
._. Microsoft hates losing don’t they?