Microsoft has turned to the web for trying to fix Vista's PR problems. Like an old coffee commercial, the Mojave Experiment is a website that features users shown a supposedly new operating system, then they are told that it is actually Vista. The ideal is to get users to experience Vista without the negative buzz surrounding the product.
While it no doubt has found some users that may see Vista in a new light, the experiment does not take into account the biggest issues with Vista, and bloggers are taking note of this. On Canadian magazine Maclean’s, blogger Colin Campbell, wrote that
Microsoft seems to be shifting blame for its bad P.R. problems over to their customers
Bob Garfield, a columnist for Advertising Age magazine and host of “On the Media” on NPR, reflects on the similarity of the Mojave campaign and the 80's Folgers Coffee switch commercials by writing,
Like the Folgers campaign, the Mojave Experiment is a clever test that demonstrates nothing
A big issue with Vista involves setting it up and installing drivers and applications. The Mojave Experiment, with its pre-setup and fully tuned demonstration, showed none of this to the test subject. Adam DuVander of Webmonkey notes that the website shows,
no videos of connecting new devices, attempting to get on a Wi-Fi network, or tunneling into work’s V.P.N
Ben Carlson, the chief strategy officer for Bradley and Montgomery, the firm conducting the experiment, stated that these complaints are based on misunderstandings of the Mojave Experiment’s purpose, and he had this to say about the blogger's reactions:
It’s not about saying Vista is perfect, or that all these people fell in love with it…what people have heard about Vista is different from the reality
Getting a better PR buzz around Vista is important to Microsoft, since Vista is only halfway through its intended 3 year life cycle. And with 140 million copies of Vista sold Microsoft is not exactly hurting from Vista. But their concern is with the next OS version, since bad buzz from Vista could open the door for an alternative to be considered in the near future.
Now, to note Microsoft has a history of bringing out a strong product after a stumble. For example, Windows 3.1 was a vast improvement over Windows 3.0, and Windows NT 3.51 triumphed over NT 3.5. The horrific Windows ME gave way to XP, arguably one of the best OS ever (certainly most popular). So, with all of the Vista flap I am expecting some really good things out of Windows 7. If not, Microsoft find its grasp on the PC market seriously weakened.
But one thing to take note of – the Mojave site was done in Adobe Flash, not Microsoft's own much touted alternative Silverlight. I find that interesting in itself.
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