“Microsoft [recently] captured people who were told they were getting sneak peak at some future version of Windows named ‘Mojave.’ Instead, they were shown a repackaged Vista,” John C. Dvorak writes for MarketWatch.
“The idea, from Microsoft’s perspective, was to find individuals who had a negative viewpoint on Vista and wow them with the next-generation OS to see what they thought. See the Mojave Experiment site,” Dvorak writes. “The company’s goal was to prove that users’ initial opinion was wrong and that they probably had never seen Vista before — which seems to be the case in most instances.”
Dvorak writes, “This stunt has now been analyzed to death by the tech press [but] all the analysis and corporate posturing miss the key point: Microsoft has to ask itself why it needs to do something like this in the first place.“
Dvorak writes, “Ironically, the comments made in the Mojave video do nothing more than confirm the problem. As things sit now, Vista is no more than a pathetic embodiment of the sad-sack character portrayed by Hodgman in the Apple ads as far as the public is concerned.”
“The likelihood of the mostly humorless Microsoft approach to advertising somehow matching Apple’s in effectiveness is nil. In this race for mindshare, Microsoft is the tortoise and Apple is the hare,” Dvorak writes. “But unlike in the fable where the hare dawdled, Apple left the starting line two years early and has been going full tilt ever since. The tortoise is apparently brain-damaged and doing nothing.”
Full article – gulp, recommended – here.
Amazingly, this one from Dvorak is a good read and right on point, too. The bloated gas bag must be taking his meds this week.
We’ve already done our take regarding this on Tuesday: Microsoft launches ‘Mojave Experiment’ Windows Vista rehab site.
Yes, we hate it when John agrees with us.
One of those rare moments from Dvorak, or maybe Microsoft forgot to mail the check?
Can you believe his last statement!!!
But unlike in the fable where the hare dawdled, Apple left the starting line two years early and has been going full tilt ever since. The tortoise is apparently brain-damaged and doing nothing
The last line, I daresay, summs up MS absolutely spot on…
“The tortoise is apparently brain-damaged and doing nothing.”
I think everyone is getting is frustrated with M$’s performance. Remember, there are a lot of people that have hung their hats on being M$ pundits, experts, and IT professionals. It must suck to go to work everyday knowing that your world revolves around crappy software from a company that cares nothing about making a quality product. I mean every time one of these MSCE’s is haggling over virus software with a vendor don’t you he/she knows that with a real OS the anti-virus budget could a be a salary bonus?
Just my $0.02
somewhere… Pigs are flying
I think John needs to learn how to use big words like “embodiment” correctly.
Before you flame me, notice he wrote that Vista embodies Hodgman’s character. That’s the reverse of the definition of embodiment. Was he making a literary joke? Doubtful.
Professionals are supposed to know how to use their tools!
News Flash, Dvorak has found a drug combo that works!
“The bloated gas bag….” Hahahaha… yeah!
Dvorak is a page-hit whore. This time he’s attacking micros#%t. He’s still a whore. This time his attack is justified. And he’s still a whore. Etc.
I think Apple needs to do put those same folk in front of OSX.
And, interview them on their views of Microsoft’s deception.
Very funny article from an unlikely source.
“Vista is no more than a pathetic embodiment of the sad-sack character portrayed by Hodgman in the Apple ads as far as the public is concerned.”
Not bad Dvorak.
Please don’t package me with a guy that should and doesn’t take med’s!
I’m better than that.
Dvorak states the obvious, Microsoft has an image problem.
But Dvoark fudges reality after that, intimating that it’s still only the public’s perception of Vista that’s the problem, and that Vista really is a good operating system, if only Microsoft had marketed Vista properly.
And that’s where Dvorak is, as usual, wrong.
@ trex67
“Ditto” I could not have said it better
Even a broken clock is right twice a day…
“News Flash, Dvorak has found a drug combo that works!”
Now if that dumbass Rush Limbaugh could find a drug combo that actaully worked, perhaps he too would stop all the crap coming out of his mouth…
(yeah, yeah, I know – no direct relatiom to the post…)
The ‘Mojave Experiment’ reminds me of the ‘Milgram Experiment’. Check it out and you will see what I mean…
Microsoft is not like a brain-damaged rabbit.
It’s like a paraplegic, brain-damaged rabbit.
Folger’s Crystals.
> Yes, we hate it when John agrees with us.
I think John actually agrees with you most of the time. He just enjoys playing the “tech curmudgeon” role too much to admit it.
Even the rats are looking to get off the MS boat.
I guess I’m not that much of a fanboi as I thought because I disagree with most sentiments here.
I enjoy listening to John C. Dvorak on various podcasts (Cranky Geeks, TWIT). He does criticize Apple but he criticizes other companies as well. Most of his criticisms are not unfounded. I would suggest listening to him (or actually reading what he writes) but that might set the more rabid fanbois on me.
That is all.
Et tu, Dvorak?
Vista is a magnificent accomplishment in OS technology. It is easily leaps and bounds ahead of MAC’s 30-year old Unix (P)OS. If you ask me, MAC has a lot of catching up to do.
As far as the ‘Mojave’ campaign goes, I think it’s fantastic. Microsoft is doing something you MAC lemmings don’t understand which is taking the high road. Microsoft doesn’t have to trash MAC to build itself up, unlike you know who in Cupertino. The security, stability and first-rate user experience in Vista speaks for itself. Go to the Mojave Experiment site and see for yourselves, MAC dorks.
Your potential. Our passion.™
P.S. You can play games on Windows.
John has in the past said some pretty stupid things, no doubt he will in the future too but I do strongly agree with him on this one. Vista isn’t a total disaster but Microsoft broke a lot of promises, failed to deliver on so many levels and Vista does have some genuine problems too.
I’ve just sat infront of Windows Explorer and tried to get from ‘Pictures’ to ‘Videos’ and I couldn’t do it, I had to close it out and open Explorer again. I could have done that in seconds in the Finder. I always want to use Expose too, I have the side buttons of my mouse to do ‘All Windows’ and as I type this I just went to press them as I changed tracks in iTunes. IE 7 has a terrible layout but then Firefox is so good I’ve not need to use it. And don’t get me started on the Vista Control Panel, it must have 50 million options but you wouldn’t know it because they are so well hidden, only a problem if you actually want to change any of your settings!
Zune Wang:
Like Brett Farve, you apparently don’t know when to quit when you’re ahead.
Like Green Bay, I’ll take up an offering to pay you not to post any more?
Deal?
Your loss, Our gain™