A lawsuit was filled against Microsoft alleging that the company used deceptive marketing techniques.

According to Seattle P-I, Dianne Kelly of Camano Island filled a class action against Microsoft for allowing the inclusion of the “Windows Vista Capable” logo on machines not capable of running all the features Microsoft was touting as new features of Windows Vista.

On its Web site, Microsoft states that the Home Basic edition of Windows Vista can be run on a PC that has at least an 800 MHz processor, 512 MB of system memory, and a graphics processor that is Direct X 9 compatible. However, such a configuration will not be able to run all the new features Microsoft has included the more expensive versions of Vista, such as the “Aero” interface, Flip 3D navigation tools and Media PC capabilities. These features would require a PC with a much powerful configuration such as 1 GHz processor, 1 GB of system memory and a 40GB hard drive with 15GB of free space.

“All the ‘wow’ stuff that Microsoft is selling and marketing is present in (Windows Vista Home) Premium, but it’s not present in Basic,” said Michael Rosenberger, one of the lawyers representing Kelley in the case.

In response, Microsoft said that lawsuit wrongly overlooks its efforts to help PC makers, retailers and consumers “understand the hardware requirements to run the various flavors of the Windows Vista operating system,” said Linda Norman, a Microsoft associate general counsel. “We feel as a company we went beyond what we’ve ever done to try to educate people so that they understood and could make the right purchase decision,” she said.

Microsoft created a special logo for making clear which system is compatible with the premium features of Vista, but the general “Windows Vista Capable” logo is general and does not give any details about which features are actually compatible with the system.

“We have different versions, and they do offer different features. … The Windows (Vista) core experience is a huge advance over Windows XP, we believe, and provides some great features, particularly in the area of security and reliability, and just general ease of use,” Norman said, quoted by Seattle P-I.