Submission + - Dell pulls support for x64 Vista? (neowin.net) 5
leighklotz writes: "This message is getting forwarded about with some concern by those who have to validate software on multiple platforms...it looks like Windows is beginning to see the fragmentation that Linux is so often accused of.
A user named "Morpheus Phreak" wrote on neowin:
A user named "Morpheus Phreak" wrote on neowin:
"I do a fresh install of Windows Vista Ultimate x64 Edition. The install finishes and my system reboots with in-box drivers for almost all of my hardware. The first thing I do is go to the Dell Support site and download drivers, or do I? It seems that Dell has decided to stop supporting all 64-bit editions of Windows, thus nothing to download.
I make a post on their forums asking if anyone knows if it's temporary and I receive this response from a Dell employee:
"It cost us in time and money to validate drivers. We built PCs with specific operating systems in mind. That is all we will support."
I mention to the Dell employee that he must be mistaken as that would violate their Vista Logo contract with Microsoft. At this point the Dell employee replied tersely with the following:
"Be assured, our legal team is on top of this decision."
At this point I'm stumped and a bit angry. After all the OEM Logo requirements state, "OEMs using x64 implementations must have signed drivers available to end users if shipping a 32-bit version of Windows Vista on the system."
By removing their x64 driver support they have now violated their contract with Microsoft. Any x64-based systems they sell now with the logo are illegal. One can only help but wonder, why would Dell put themselves in this position?
I'll kindly step down from my Soapbox now, but I ask one question to all of you.
Where do we go from here?