M.David Stone: Lately I've gotten lots of e-mail complaining about the lack of printer and scanner driver compatibility for Vista in older, and in many cases discontinued, models. Every complaint blames the manufacturer for not providing a Vista driver at all, or providing one that lacks support for some of the printer's or scanner's functions. Most go further, into heated—if not outright flame—territory, accusing the manufacturer in question of trying to rip off the poor consumer. A good number include some variation on the phrase "I will never again buy a (printer or scanner) from (company name)." At least as many letters suggest that PC Magazine ought to write about this issue. Well, sure—here goes, though I know a lot of people will disagree with my conclusions.

First, I'd argue that all of these e-mails lay the blame at the wrong doorstep. Microsoft is the one that chose not to provide backward compatibility in Vista. Instead, it dropped the problem into everyone else's lap. If you're going to be angry, you should at least aim your anger in the right direction.