Can There Be 'Wow' in Vista Marketing?
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News Commentary. Yesterday's Microsoft marketing bravado is just too funny. So now, 17 months after general availability, Microsoft will promote Windows Vista? Get a life. |
The big talk and promises came from Microsoft's Worldwide Partner Conference, in Houston, where Brad Brooks fessed up about Vista marketing mistakes and promised there would be response to Apple's "Get a Mac" ads. They say that confession is good for the corporate soul. I say that it's not good enough.
Microsoft should never have abandoned the original "Wow" Windows Vista marketing campaign. It brought new meaning to the term "marketing blitz." The campaign flashed by before anybody could blink and say, "Wow." Even if Microsoft executives loathed the ads, better to keep them than have nothing. I remain convinced that the Vista marketing campaign could have been very effective. The TV commercials were aspirational, potentially creating positive feelings about the then-mysterious Windows Vista.
Products don't sell themselves. There are good reasons why companies market their stuff. Products must be sold. The best sales pitch is life betterment. Why are people waiting a week in line to buy Apple's iPhone 3G? Because they believe the device will make better their puny little lives. Apple iPhone TV commercials run during most popular primetime programs. The marketing works.
There has been nobody out there saying how good is Windows Vista. But there are plenty of voices, including Apple's "Get a Mac" ads, shouting about how bad is the operating system. It's disgusting that Microsoft showed so little Vista marketing concern for so long. Any ad would be better than none.
Suddenly, there's bravado. Microsoft is making promises about real Vista marketing. Earth to Microsoft, it's going to be too little too late. Windows Vista is the high school outcast. It has got a bad reputation, and people won't easily forget. Marketing damage control is better than nothing, but it could have been avoided. Microsoft should never have given up on "Wow."
Whatever Microsoft does next can't be much worse than nothing. Still, the new marketing campaign, presumably for Windows Vista plus Windows Live, has got to have punch. The marketing must be creative, funny and aspirational—why your life will be better for buying a Windows Vista PC. Microsoft has to make people want Vista.
I grew up in Northern Maine about 16 kilometers from the Canadian border. The local CBC TV station, out of Saint John, New Brunswick, ran these crazy shampoo commercials. The theme: An American would try to smuggle the shampoo into the United States, only to be repeatedly caught by Canadian Customs. The shampoo was only sold in Canada, but was so good Americans would risk going to jail for smuggling out the hair contraband. The ads tapped into feelings about Canadian pride, American disdain and the product's value. You wanted to buy that shampoo.
To repeat: Microsoft marketing has to make people want to buy Windows Vista. The marketing will fail if it's about features or appeals to the intellect. Most purchasing decisions are emotional. Featuring people in ads is one of the most effective ways of generating good feelings about products. After all, people can connect to other human beings—there is common base—and people use the products. Apple's "Get a Mac" ads are effective because of how well they use people as metaphors for conveying typically complicated technological gobbledygook.
This afternoon, I drank some coffee to fire up the synapses, pondering what kind of commercials could be effective. I humbly offer up a couple, starting with response to "Get a Mac" anti-Vista propaganda. Microsoft shouldn't directly attack Apple. Better: Parody the "Get a Mac" ads, making a subtle but important point about Windows PCs. For this one, viral video would be better than commercial broadcast.
Here's what I'd do: The video opens with two guys standing against a white background, just like Apple's commercials. The viewer hears the familiar "Hello, I'm a Mac." "And I'm a PC." Then another guy appears, "And I'm a PC." Another and another and another appears, with popping sounds, each saying, "And I'm a PC." This goes on for about 10 seconds, with hundreds of PC people from different races and cultural attire popping up to overlapping choruses of "And I'm a PC." Then there is silence. The Mac guy looks at the thousands of PC people and mutters, "Wow." Across the screen flashes text: "You can be alone. Or you can have friends." The Windows Vista logo flashes. Video ends.
Everybody knows that there are more Windows PCs than Macs, right? The commercial would play on connotations of safety in numbers, community and fear of being alone. Human beings are social creatures, after all.
Here's another idea, and the last one. I'm not an advertising expert. These concepts are tough for me to think up: The scene opens on a park playground, with a woman facing us; she taps on a notebook resting in her lap. The camera zooms in as her friend walks up pushing a baby carriage. The woman immediately closes the lid, and her friend reacts with surprise. "Jane, what was that for? What are you hiding?" There is short silence, and the woman flips the lid to show the Vista desktop. "It's Windows Vista. I've heard so many bad things, I'm a little embarrassed about using it. But I really like Windows Vista. It's simply amazing." The friend shakes her head and smiles. She reaches into her tote bag, pulls out a laptop and flips the lid. It's Windows Vista. Both women laugh.
There are lots of ways Microsoft could wrap up the commercial; I'm more anxious to blog this post than make suggestions. I can't imagine Microsoft ever airing such a concept, though. But Microsoft needs something this aggressive—that hits hard at the Vista negativity and appeals to people that like the operating system. The commercial could easily feature two teens instead of mothers. Kids understand about being ostracized, as do many parents of middle or high school students.
How will Microsoft really market Windows Vista? We may soon find out.
Comments (51)
What your proposing is putting lipstick on a pig.
Go for it.
---* Bill
Posted by Bill | July 9, 2008 3:45 PM
So you're saying a product can't sell itself? It has to be marketed? I doubt the iPhone needs much marketing, unless you count the Macworld keynote last year as marketing. Jobs simply demonstrated what the iPhone could do and people lined up for days to buy one. It sold itself.
Good luck selling Vista. Which version should they sell? Which version do we need? Those questions beg the question as to why there are so many versions. It's a joke.
MSFT fails to do anything right these days because they have never had real competition. And Vista is so bloated they will never recover. You can't market your way out of those truths.
Posted by Blad_Rnr | July 9, 2008 3:55 PM
Microsoft painted themselves in the corner after taking XP and XP Pro off the retail market and leaving Vista as the only retail option. Thats just a small part of the problem.
Somehow and for some unfathomable reason, Vista is not carrying its weight no matter what MSFT seems to throw at it. The problem is further magnified since Vista was released, Apple is now at a 8% market share. Linux is up too, though it is harder to track trends because Linux is not primarily sold at retail.
Furthering adding insult to the injuries, Firefox (IE's competitor) is now about a 20 %. Also 72% of Wall Street servers belongs to Linux. Recent news item showed Linux getting the go ahead to expand its open source adoption in Russian schools to all regions beyond the initial three.
By next year, you will see Apple at 10% or more, Linux will be up and will continue to see more steady gains across all platforms. Firefox could be at 25% or better. Expect Open Office and other free ware alternatives to make more substantial gains as consumers (and companies) hard pressed in this worsening economy look for ways to cut costs.
Vista is not the only software to drag the Redmond ship down. The economy and cutbacks across the board in major companies do not bode well for MSFT and other proprietary companies (except Apple). Office 2007 is not exactly inexpensive, if Open Office does what most consumers want. Then expect to see Open Office to see figures like Firefox has or even higher.
MSFT can do a "WOW 2.0" all they want, no matter what, putting lipstick on the pig is not going to help. I noticed the increase in those wishing to dual boot with Linux on Vista machines. Which begs the question.
If Windows users are really that satisfied with Vista. Then how come on the Linux forums, (especially the Ubuntu Forums)we see a steady increase of those with Vista machines looking to dual boot with Ubuntu. Or even looking to do a total wipe of Vista altogether. Why is that?
Posted by Ralph | July 9, 2008 4:47 PM
Joe, I really liked your first ad proposal.
Greetings :)
Posted by Cervantes | July 9, 2008 4:53 PM
Let me get this straight: Microsoft intends to improve the Vista experience, and fix its many bugs and incompatibilities, with a marketing campaign to convince us that Windows has no bugs and no incompatibilities?
Microsoft could pull this off. Why? Well, please observe that Dubya convinced most Rightwingers to vote for him the second time on the basis that he is most able to protect America when...guess what, he already failed to protect America during 911. Naturally, war hero Kerry lost because he was blamed for 911, not Bush.
By the same method, Microsoft -- like Bush -- will blame everyone and everything else but itself for its lack of vision, its incompetencies, and extreme failures, this, in an attempt to convince Windows users to support it instead of the competitor.
You know...I have a useful suggestion: Do you think you could just fix Windows first, and only then embark on a PR campaign? Dubya should just fix Iraq, and then get out, instead of leaving his botched up job for Obama. Good ideas, no? Yes, they are.
Posted by vito positano | July 9, 2008 4:55 PM
I'm not sure that the "Wow" ads were better than nothing. To me it almost seemed like false advertising.
Sure, a number of things are better in Vista than XP (especially now that they've had a chance to work out some of the bugs), but "wow?"
Transparency and Flip 3D? Yawn.
Internet Explorer 7? Ho hum.
A whole boat load of features listed at www.microsoft.com/windows/products/windowsvista/features/details/? Sorry, no "exclamations of surprise, wonder, pleasure, or the like." (Last quote from the dictionary.)
Posted by Quintius | July 9, 2008 5:25 PM
I believe that Vista is a success, no matter what you say Joe. Microsoft doesn't need to employ the same level of abusive marketing that Apple uses to try and push there 'puny' 25 million user base that has been stuck at its current penetration since the Bill Clinton Administrator.
Everyday I see more and more people using and enjoying Vista. Understanding its features, ease of use and rich functionality. `The problem that happened with Vista is that compatibility never started out well, and honestly there was no surprise there either. We are talking about a major release of Windows here since XP released in 2001. So persons who use there open source rhetoric and OS X is easier recycled commentary . are just trying to further their agenda.
Yes, I wish there was more marketing around the scenarios. But, success of the deployment and adoption by consumers, proves that marketing of Vista has been successful through word of mouth.
Posted by Andre Da Costa | July 9, 2008 6:23 PM
"There has been nobody out there saying how good is Windows Vista."
I wouldn't go that far, Joe. Ed Bott, Paul Thurrott, Robert McLaws, and others have been doing it. Unfortunately, they've been drowned out by mainstream media, and MSFT (as you indicate) has blown it completely. It's amazing that heads up to and including Ballmer's haven't rolled over this.
Posted by Paul | July 9, 2008 6:41 PM
So now they are going to paint the turd and sell it.
great marketing More WOW. Wow I've removed it from
over 200 PC's now and get more calls everyday, bring it on thank you microshaft for building sure a turd.
It's big business now I can't wait for winblows seven.
Posted by TCY | July 9, 2008 8:23 PM
Why pay for advertising when you have a monopoly? Businesses are not likely to buy based on advertisements. Individuals have few choices. Yes, there is the Mac at 2-3 times the price. There is Linux for the nerds ... who also do not buy based on advertisements. So would there really be any additional sales for the advertising dollars?
Posted by John | July 9, 2008 9:39 PM
Pretty amazed at the two concepts / ideas!!! That's a break from what Microsoft has ever done!
Posted by Mike | July 9, 2008 10:05 PM
What fantasy world do you live in, Blad_Rnr, where you can say Apple didn't advertise the iPhone. In the world I live in, Apple satuation-marketed the thing on TV for a full month before the thing came out and continuously thereafter, not to mention Steve Jobs talking it up every chance he got (like with Mossberg at the All Things D conference). And don't forget that Apple had to cut a 1/3 off of price to juice sales not more than two months after its release.
That said, I find it remarkable that Microsoft has only decided now that they need to counter the bad impressions left -- many of its own making, but much more by those who have an interest in seeing Microsoft fail. (OK, sometimes that latter group even includes me...)
Posted by Wes | July 9, 2008 10:38 PM
Has there ever been a memorable ad campaign from MSFT? Have any of their media buys been consistent or effective? The earlier comment about monopolies rings all too true. The guys in Redmond don't worry about marketing because they know that legions of IT types will carry their water and consumers (over 90%) will "buy" their stuff, no matter what. CEO Steve Ballmer shows total, abject denial when crows about "selling" 120 million copies of Vista.
Posted by Johnny | July 10, 2008 12:33 AM
Blad_Rur says I doubt the iPhone needs much marketing, unless you count the Macworld keynote last year as marketing.
Dude, TURN ON YOUR TV. There are iphone ads on every 10 minutes.
Posted by pump | July 10, 2008 1:09 AM
@Andre
"Understanding its features, ease of use and rich functionality."
To understand ease of use. There's a Wow if I ever saw one. Never heard that one before. How can you understand ease of use? For me ease of use is something you have or have not. To say you understand ease of use is to say something lacks basic usability (is counter intuitive) and you have learned (understood) how to use it counter to your intuition. Now expressed this way it does become an appropriate description of a Vista experience.
Regarding...
"The problem that happened with Vista is that compatibility never started out well"
and it hasn't gotten any better. And you go further to state that somehow this is a normal thing to expect:
"and honestly there was no surprise there either. We are talking about a major release of Windows here since XP released in 2001."
Please. What does that have to do with me? Mhh let me imagine it this way, "Oh sir well your application won't run because we had a 6 year release cycle.", "Oh ok thank you. I understand I'll just stay home and not work until someone fixes it." Somehow I don't see this happening, I hope you don't either.
And then the killer comment:
"So persons who use there open source rhetoric and OS X is easier recycled commentary . are just trying to further their agenda."
You must be referring to their work agenda. In such a context, they are clearly getting more done because they don't have to deal with compatibility issues or upgrades that leaves your laptop rebooting until it kinda settles in (like the one I just experienced tonight).
The same people you speak of enjoy OSes that run on more chip architectures than Vista has versions. Have multiprocessor, multicore and 64bit support built in with no extra cost.
I should also add that Apple has moved from a PowerPC architecture to an Intel architecture while preserving OS and application support. All of this in the same time span it took Microsoft to just release Vista. Apple announces this in 2005 with plans to release mid 2006. Microsoft announces 2005 and then delays until 2007. Apple actually starts early 2006 not mid 2006 as initially announced. Apple finishes switching over its line by 2007 while Microsoft is just releasing Vista. By early 2008 Apple has already released another version of its software (Leopard) and ironed out the majority of its issues while by mid 2008 Microsoft is still fixing things.
Still in doubt? You still think I have an agenda, well then lets read some of what Brad Brooks has to say.
www.microsoft.com/presspass/
exec/brooks/wpc2008.mspx
"We made some significant investments around security in this product. And you know what, those investments, they broke some things. They broke a lot of things. We know that."
Well not only do you know that Brad you also "knew" that and you denied it. That is what's getting people upset. You denied the issues and forced Vista down the OEM channel making lots of people unhappy. But I shouldn't get so worked up, I hear you're making things better now. Support and compatibility is better, why? Well here is the reason:
"The other big thing that's different this time around is that we've got a pretty noisy competitor out there [Apple]."
Although this line is in the context of advertisement we clearly see him worried about Apple and why? Well because more and more people are finding it better to switch to Apple than to Vista. This isn't a little zealotry agenda thing. It is a very real issue and we must see it as so. More so the way he phrases it sounds like Microsoft wouldn't care about the whole issue if Apple wasn't around. Which sounds real bad to me.
Posted by Gerardo Tasistro | July 10, 2008 2:23 AM
The problem with Vista, is SP1 really did not fix enough problems, it was still Vista. Speaking of MS fixing things;
Is the Xbox 360 Elite borked?
Mirror reports 'hundreds of Elites' returned
http://www.techradar.com/news/gaming/is-the-xbox-360-elite-borked--417560
Quote; "A national UK newspaper has indicated that the Xbox 360 Elite could be suffering from the same 'red ring of death' overheating problem as earlier models of the console, despite protestations to the contrary from Microsoft.
"Microsoft sets aside huge sum to fix infected Xbox Elite consoles," consumer editor Ruki Sayid writes in the Daily Mirror."
Posted by chips | July 10, 2008 3:12 AM
MS is on its last marketing campaign for Vista, as it knows that as soon as the first public test version of Windows Seven comes out, everyone will hold of to buy that one. So of course, MS would rather sell you both Vista first, then Seven later, and make double the money off you.
Posted by chips | July 10, 2008 3:15 AM
As John Steinbeck wrote in one of his books:
"You can't make a race horse of a pig"
"No," said Samuel, "but you can make very fast pig"
That's what Microsoft needs to understand...
Posted by Christian Gross | July 10, 2008 5:08 AM
You could have an ad like the first one Joe mentions.
Then you could have all the PC people turning in to Agent Smith from the Matrix to show how easy a virus spreads through the Windows community.
You could also have all of the PC people going in to spasms to show how easy Windows just crashes.
I'm sorry but I’d rather be part of the stable and reliable Mac community than be part of the unstable and unreliable Windows one.
Posted by Adam | July 10, 2008 8:18 AM
Joe said:
The marketing will fail if it's about features or appeals to the intellect. Most purchasing decisions are emotional.
------------------------------------------------
I wish more Linux people would understood this.
Posted by ZzarkLinux | July 10, 2008 9:09 AM
It is too late for MS to market the OS in a positive light.
Vista = New Coke
No amount of marketing is going to pull this OS out of the trash heap. While the OS may sell to 'Best Buy' computer consumers like Andre and others with limited computer knowledge; the OS still fails at the enterprise level.
Posted by JM | July 10, 2008 12:57 PM
Great commercial ideas Joe - you really missed your calling!
Posted by BlahBlah | July 10, 2008 1:40 PM
Andre da Costa said:
"Everyday I see more and more people using and enjoying Vista. Understanding its features, ease of use and rich functionality. "
Is it just me or does that sound like it came straight out of the mouth of MS Marketing? When is the last time you ever heard anyone in actual conversation use the phrase "rich functionality?
Posted by CarlosHawes | July 10, 2008 2:38 PM
chips: "MS is on its last marketing campaign for Vista, as it knows that as soon as the first public test version of Windows Seven"
True, Proof of it, is the 'high activity' of MS "bloggers" (here and others Blogs).
Do you think it will be just if MS give Windows seven free to all the people who bought Windows Vista? because windows 7 is Windows Vista Pack 2
It could be a good crusade for eWEEK o some Media with interest in protecting their readers and that is fair.
Posted by Marco | July 10, 2008 4:05 PM
at CarlosHawes (above)
Yes, I read Andre's reply earlier and paused for a good 5 minutes. I was going to post something earlier ... but I didn't.
I seriously wonder how much he's being paid for saying stuff like that. Or maybe he's just a huge troll. His post actually dodged all 1,500+ things wrong with Vista, and I think it committed every-single logical fallacy too !
Posted by ZzarkLinux | July 10, 2008 4:10 PM
at ZzarkLinux
That's just not a normal sentence he posted. The funny thing is that since I posted that statement about "rich functionality", I started noticing the word "rich" all over the place in a SQL Server Admin book from MS press that I am current reading. Phrases like "rich reports" keep popping up everywhere. It must be one of their new buzzwords like "Customer Experience" or "innovation".
I don't know how much he gets paid or even if he does. He might just be a true windows fan who has spent waaaaay too much time reading MS press releases and marketing speak.
I fear it will happen to me soon. And I'm only reading one of the TECHNICAL manuals >-0
Posted by CarlosHawes | July 10, 2008 5:25 PM
You know I switched to a Mac last October 2007. Apple's ad campaign was effective to me. Already had an iPod and thought hard about this purchase. My home built PC died and I was just so frustrated with windows, I decided not to go down that path again and rebuild the PC. This mac became my first store bought computer since my first PC, an IBM PS/2 in 1986 (oh, exclude a couple of laptops along the way). I built a hundred or so computers for myself, family and friends in the late 80s up until 2005. So I know DOS>XP. I could no longer take the time and perseverance required to maintain a PC. Faced with buying a PC with Vista and a Mac with OS X, I decided to go with Apple. Their marketing is effective - and the Vista word of mouth is killing Microsoft. I have yet to me ONE PERSON at my large corporate workplace say they like Vista. I all hear are complaints. Another reason I didn't want to get into Vista.
Jo, you said you couldn't cite a memorable advertising campaign? The "Start Me Up" is memorable - if only for the use of the Rolling Stones' song "Start Me Up"! That's the last time I think Microsoft really had what they always want with marketing - buzz and excitement. Well, that's how I feel about the new iPhone, I am going to look at it seriously for my next phone. Aloha!
Posted by Bullit | July 10, 2008 5:29 PM
Memorable marketing campaign? Here is a Microsoft classic...one of the best they ever did..lol
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sforhbLiwLA
Posted by Ralph | July 10, 2008 7:36 PM
To CarlosHawes:
Sure you are new to this Forum, because a lot of people who are writing 'defending' to MS were found with some MS 'link' (working directly or indirectly for MS or receiving some 'benefits') and it is complety logic MS behavior, it's very difficult for MS find out true defenders.
About of Andre....well him is that is called a typical case (among the firts found 'in fraganti'.-guilty-)
Posted by Marco | July 10, 2008 9:14 PM
I think another great idea would be to profile two different users:
1) Those who switched to a Mac from Windows and hated it.
2) Those who switched to Windows from a Mac and loved it.
I Googled the concepts, but all I could find were the opposite, but I'm sure there must be SOMEONE out there.
Posted by chip | July 11, 2008 10:04 AM
"Andre Da Costa where are you?"
Has anyone heard from Andre Da Costa?
"it's been two months about this day when he last posted in these groups."
http://tinyurl.com/5ckhry
Posted by n0neXn0ne | July 11, 2008 11:50 AM
What is the big story Today in the news? Apple
Iphone. I have not seen this level of excitement about a product since maybe XP or 98. Why is it big? it is because it does what it says quickly and it doesn't ask: Are you sure you want to do that? (I am looking at you Vista)
Posted by newswatcher | July 11, 2008 1:56 PM
@n0neXn0ne :
"Andre Da Costa where are you?"
Has anyone heard from Andre Da Costa?
----------------------------------------------------
I think Andre (and Neil who is most likely the same) only posts here and runs these days, as he knows better than to try to debate his bosses ideas here. In a years time when Windows Seven comes out, Andre will be telling everyone that they need to buy Seven because Vista is such a POS. And he will use the basic arguments that have been stated by everyone else as his "reasons." Andre is just a creature created from the mind of Steve Ballmer, and has no original thought, other than that of his master.
Posted by chips (not chip) | July 11, 2008 2:29 PM
Chips wrote:
"Andre will be telling everyone that they need to buy Seven because Vista is such a POS."
----------------------------------------------------
At least Andre will be telling the truth, and it would be a refreshing change.
Andre's script that he currently reads from must be getting worn out. lol
Posted by Ralph | July 11, 2008 3:30 PM
Why can't MS just let the bad word of mouth do it's thing for Vista (it's extremely hard to repair bad reputation) and spend the millions of dollars in advertising into development for Windows 7. Heck even pay people just for testing the OS and doing mandatory things such as fixing old icons and inconsistencies.
Posted by Anthony | July 11, 2008 6:04 PM
Ed Bott, Paul Thurrott and especially Robert McLaws are all Microsoft toolbags.
Posted by Bob Jones | July 11, 2008 6:05 PM
@Andre Da Costa:
"The problem that happened with Vista is that compatibility never started out well, and honestly there was no surprise there either. We are talking about a major release of Windows here since XP released in 2001."
I'm sorry, but this makes makes no sense. Six years between major releases should have meant abundant time for compatibility. The fact that compatibility is still generally considered to be woefully inadequate cannot be explained by the long interval between releases. One possibility is that this is strictly a perceptual problem (I.e., MicroSoft's PR actually is every bit as bad as the reputation of its Flagship software.). More likely, the compatibility problems are both real and related to MicroSoft's mismanaged approach to the planning and developing the software, which looked an awful lot like having a baby (Even its mother doesn't know what it will look like until she delivers it!)
Posted by Pinball | July 11, 2008 10:23 PM
The only "Wow" in Vista is, "wow, it sure takes long to delete a few files!" and so on and on with the other stupid bugs in the operating system that have not been fixed even with SP1.
So, it's still, "Wow, this sucks!"
Microsoft will -never- get Vista right. Ever. As in Never Ever Not Ever Forever.
They have already abandoned Vista and are running full speed to get Windows 7 out. Of course, that's just another version of Vista. Hello....??? Not getting it Microsoft? Fix what ya got out there, then maybe try something else later when you get a grip!
My next computer (ordered Friday) is a MacBook Pro. I'm joining so many others who are starting to say, "so long" to you know who.
Posted by mgo | July 12, 2008 3:22 PM
@Johnny: "Has there ever been a memorable ad campaign from MSFT?"
You betcha... Windows XP, 2001, lots of people inexplicably flying around and the the tag line "Yes You Can." Memorably absurd.
Posted by Quintius | July 12, 2008 6:49 PM
I just starting using Vista about a month ago both on my new development machine at work and my new home PC.
I thought Microsoft was supposed to be the king of FUD, but now I guess the bloggers are now.
Despite the negative buzz, I was surprised to find that Vista is very nice. I would not recommend upgrading an old PC to Vista, but buying a new PC without it would just be dumb.
Posted by Butler T. Reynolds | July 13, 2008 1:11 AM
I was a twenty year MSFT OS user going back to DOS & Win 3.1.
When I needed a new laptop last year, I looked at all the spilt milk over Vistaster and decided I'd had enough bloat for a lifetime.
Moreover, in that piece of sh!t Windows Explorer, you cannot ever take twenty folders and drag/drop them to another drive without a grotesque number of the most inane interrogatories from the bloatware. Every time I tried to do a big file backup, it failed.
I decided that I'd had a lifetime of BS from the Redmond dung heap.
I am so very happy that I switched to a Mac.
I ENJOY my computer because it works right, right out of the box: no BS bloatware to eat my HD, no spyware, no viruses, no nothing except what I want to do.
You could not pay me enough to go back to a Bloatputer powered by Vistaster. Why should I risk using something that has never satisfied me in the past.
Piece of advice to MSFT: Fire Ballmer and anyone else who was even peripherally connected to Vistaster.
While you are at it, fire those who gave us Zune, Xbox, SPoT and the execrable WinMobile. Oh, please throw in LiveSearch and PlaysForSure, two more pieces of MSH!T.
Posted by Jeremy w | July 13, 2008 1:16 AM
@chip :"I think another great idea would be to profile two different users:
1) Those who switched to a Mac from Windows and hated it.
2) Those who switched to Windows from a Mac and loved it."
-------------------------
Now that brings back some sweet memories; back when MS tried to respond to Apple's testimonies of happy PC-to-Mac switchers, with a happy testimony of their own; turned out that the 'testimony' was fake and it was placed next to a photograph taken randomly on the internet... lol
But seriously, is this PR boost supposed to be a last ditch attempt to convince those who decided to stick with XP? If that's the plan, the ads are better be good because, I'm sorry but the only thing that I can remember about MS ads (on TV) is that they're boring and they send a pretty weak message.
Posted by Ryannoyed | July 13, 2008 1:01 PM
Microsoft with its new ad campaign for Vista, is trying to do damage control and to get the uneducated to buy Vista before Windows Seven comes out. That way they can sell them Windows Seven too.
I have actually seen a few users who like Vista. They do very little with their computers, like installing software. Matter of fact, they usually have no software to install. They are not power users, and only use their computers to get email, surf a little (with IE, ugh), and play solitaire. Sure, they would be far better off with Linux, which would like them surf and get their email without all the malware problems. Even paying more for the Mac would a better option over Vista, as it too is more malware free. This is the group that is being targeted by MS, so they won't run to Mac.
The other group that seem to like Vista, is the paid MS shills like Andre.
Power users tend to either migrant to Nix, or continue to run XP for games, as Vista is a disaster for gaming, with all the DRM in it. Plus the other problems of Vista is the software compatibility problem. Unless you buy an upgraded software package, the likelihood of it working in Vista, is not good. Better chance that xp software works in Linux wine than Vista.
The ad campaign will not turn Vista into a good product, only service packs, patches, and removal of DRM, services not needed, bloat, and bugs, will do that. Clearly, MS is abandoning Vista and moving on the Windows Seven, while trying to get the last bit of revenue out of Vista with the uneducated among us, before Seven is released in beta.
Posted by chips (not chip) (I have been here awhile) | July 13, 2008 2:17 PM
Hi chips have no preocupation about the 'impersonating', because the ideas give personal stamp, BUT mi suggestion in similar cases is to use
symbolo+name (example; @ or *) because, if it is imitated, will be proving malice.
Posted by Marco | July 13, 2008 5:29 PM
Yes i agree, marketing campaigns of Microsoft are thousand times weaker than Apple..
Posted by aytug akdogan ödüllü 1. seo yarışması ve yurtta barış dünyada barı# | July 13, 2008 6:28 PM
If you think Vista can be cool, read this current article about Alex Bogusky:
http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/126/believe-it-or-not-hes-a-pc.html
Even the ad agency head guy who is supposed to take the junk of Vistaster and make it cool uses a Mac.
Why would he want to waste his time with a Redmond Bloatputer when he is so much better off with a Mac?
Vista will be cool? Will pigs fly?
Posted by Jeremy w | July 13, 2008 8:53 PM
Hi all you might remember me as the one who posted to Andre on Thursday morning at about 2:30 AM. Well I'd like to do a little recap of what has happened since then to show what a Vista experience can be like.
A few minutes after the post and while refactoring some code (that is synchronized changes through related classes and packages), Vista decided that an update was well installed and rebooted. Of course it did not issue a messages or confirmation. It just went down. The machine got slow and then I couldn't even tell Eclipse to save all changes because Vista wouldn't respond. Needless to say I was left with the code in and undefined state and had to roll back and then proceed to recode.
I was using Java on Eclipse. Why? Well I've discovered that open source software actually runs better than Microsoft's software. All Java tools install with no problem. Open source databases do so too. Meanwhile things like VS 2005 require a huge install and then a huge patch. On top of that you have a great deal of features or "high grade" applications that won't install for the simple reason that I have Vista Home Premium, but I digress.
Then during the weekend we are all nice and fine in our event registering people and wow. One of the laptops decides to go for a reboot while staff is registering people. Just like that, no warning no confirmation. Of course that particular line was stopped, people were upset and we had to move them to other lines. On top of that we had issues with networking, but those were minor things.
These are really irritating things that should not happen. Vista seems to have a double standard going on here. If you request a shutdown then applications can block a reboot, but somehow Vista knows better sometimes and can go above and beyond your needs to decide on its own. Plus these rebooting upgrades seem to be arbitrary. I'm confused and annoyed.
If someone decides to fix this issue, I'd appreciate they fix the USB drive problem too. You know the one in which you can safely remove the memory stick when a file explorer window is open. Used to work well in XP and the window would just close. In Vista this open window blocks removal.
PS I do live timing of sports events so having a machine pull a stunt like this during a race would be totally unacceptable. This has compelled us to move away from the Microsoft platform as fast as possible.
Although some may argue that proper Vista settings will fix this and other issues. Please understand that I can't put MSCE Staff as requirement for my software nor a Vista Premium machine. It needs to run well, be user friendly and accessible to all interested in using it. A negative performance of a Vista machine is no seen as hardware failure, but rather as a failure of the timer and its team to deliver results.
Posted by Gerardo Tasistro | July 14, 2008 10:29 AM
Chips, generally I don't like suggest when I was not asked , but I did that. I am sorry.
Posted by Marco | July 16, 2008 10:13 AM
I’ll tell you one thing. Any businesses that need VPN access and use Cisco will have a rude awakening if they move to Vista without testing first.
My experience with the Cisco VPN client and Vista has been terrible in ways that I do not have the eloquence to convey. It’s not just me either, as this blog shows: http://geekswithblogs.net/evjen/archive/2007/01/01/102429.aspx
My favorite comment from the blog:
I'm a network admin for a global distribution company. We have thousands of laptops using Cisco VPN client on XP. We have tried the latest client from Cisco and it still does not work with Vista. This is one of the many reasons we are not rolling out Vista. We are going to wait on Windows 7. Many other companies are doing the same (GM, Intel, etc. just to name a few)
This guy may not be aware that Windows 7 is supposedly just a cleaned up Vista.
Cisco has released about 5 versions of the client since Vista was released, all of them “Vista Certified” and none of them work reliably. So “Visa Certified” must mean something other than “this product works on Vista”.
I will say I haven’t really had any other issues with Vista, and except for the Cisco client things seem fine.
Posted by WishVisaWorked | July 16, 2008 10:22 AM
I have an idea for a Vista Ad campaign.
The commercial opens on a close-up of a man's face. The man is pale white, sweating profusely. The camera pans out and we come to see why he's sweating. The man is surrounded by several surly looking people holding guns to his head.
Each gun holder has a logo on his shirt, for instance Microsoft, Dell, HP, Toshiba, etc.
Then we hear the voiceover: "You will buy Vista or we'll blow your freakin head off".
Commercial ends and, if effective, the viewer is left with the same sickening feeling pervading all MS based IT departments right now.
Posted by Jim Duggin | July 16, 2008 10:40 AM
@ Marco :
Chips, generally I don't like suggest when I was not asked , but I did that. I am sorry.
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Why? It was actually a good suggestion.
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The marketing of Vista reminds me of the marketing of IBM OS/2 Warp 3 in 1994-5. A very short commercial with a bunch of Nuns (at least thats what I recall) and the catch frase, "Warp, a really cool way to run your computer."
WOW did nothing different than the Warp 95 marketing did, it did not tell computer users why this product was better than, or needed. Sadly, Warp 3, which was a better product, failed for many reasons, like being 3x the cost of W95, and the marketing. Vista is failing, not because of the bad marketing, but because of lack of quality.
Failure, should be used in the sense that MS is still making tons of money off Vista, but then they could have made more off XP had they never released Vista, and just keep updating XP.
Posted by chips | July 17, 2008 12:35 AM