“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.
That’s it! I’m gonna watch Cranky Geeks!
@ Me In LA
Who’s Brett Farve? Are you talking about Brett Favre who plays American Football? That’s the game where all those girly men wear pads and helmets so they don’t get hurt when they actually play the game for the few seconds between breaks to figure out what to do next, timeouts, commercials and replays. What a bunch of Nancy-Boys.
Your potential. Our passion.™
trex67 said it best.
I bet he did this negative piece to try and convince readers that he is objective in his analysis. That “gas bag” line is a winner i must say but he is still a hit-whore.
Only fags use the word “fanboi”
dev singh. Mr. Limbaugh celebrated 20 years of broadcasting today. The libs are trying to shut down both him and other conservative talk radio people by bringing back the old “Fairness (Hahahahahaha) Doctrine”. Nancy ‘Botox’ Pelosi and her ilk are trying their best to silence any opposition to their left wing socialist agenda. Air Amerika failed to get any listeners, even though Soros threw money at it. If O- Bummer fakes his way into office we’ll all be paying more for less. Did you inflate your tires today to prevent drilling for more oil?
Oh, BTW, Dvorak is off his meds.
The fact that even Dvorak is bashing the Redmond Relapse Rednecks is just more of a sign of how M$ is in the toilet spiral and the 7 year in development Longhorn(Vista) may just be their quicksand. Zune is a failure, Office is bloatware and can only get more rarely-used features stapled onto it at a hefty upgrade price tag, their surface technology just got wrapped around the projector instead of on top of it, the X-box barely has its head above water, and they couldn’t even convince a toilet-spiraling portal hub like Yahoo to drown with them. Bill was smart to see the future and get out and let Ballmer take the brunt of the fall. Just like Dell, they had their few years of glory.
“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.”
That is actually quite funny.
So what if he’s a hit whore?
Wouldn’t you try controversial topics to get hits, MDN?
Oh, wait.
You already do.
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.”
This is the crux of the issue.
MS controls 90% of the market share yet people don’t know what their latest OS looks like or they think its crap or they simply don’t give a rip.
IT, in spite of their hostility to Apple, is actually helping Apple by being at best apathetic and at worst hostile to Vista.
I am the Muffin Man.
ron,
“Did you inflate your tires today to prevent drilling for more oil? “
I don’t know about ‘dev singh’, but I just go around slashing the tires on SUVs and 4x4s. I’m not sure if it stops the drilling for oil, but I sure enjoy it.
“I am the Muffin Man.”
But of course you are.
From Ron: “Mr. Limbaugh celebrated 20 years of broadcasting today. The libs are trying to shut down both him and other conservative talk radio people by bringing back the old ‘Fairness (Hahahahahaha) Doctrine’.”
Seriously? LOL. Sorry, Ron, but simmer down the paranoia already. Limbaugh ain’t even on the ol’ lib radar. He broadcasts to a small percentage of fanatics who he riles up to make himself money. That’s all he does. He has no influence on the general public (as proven by his worthless “Operation Chaos”). He is nothing more than an entertainer, and is no threat to libs. At worse, most consider him lame comedy.
“Dvorak” is the sound my cat makes when it coughs up a hairball.
ron, are you on Exxon’s payroll? Even if the offshore drilling in contention were allowed, it would take 10 years for leases to be awarded, and another 10 years before any oil is pumped. If we don’t seriously get away from oil for transportation even in the next 5 years, we are toast!
This is just another diversionary obstructionist tactic from the repugs who are responsible for all the problems we are having now. Get a brain, moran, and stop supporting the idiots who are slowly killing you.
“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,”
I’m pretty sure they were expecting a sneak “peek,” not “peak.” Microsoft’s Vista has no peaks, only troughs.
In terms of overall mismanagement (based on competence, not scope or scale of the problem) — who is worse: George Bush or Steve Ballmer?
Mintdog,
Now that is a real conundrum!
yes david dvorak we love you !
i mean john pogue !
i’m confused.
Who are you, and what have you done with John Dvorak?
(MDN magic word is zebra, as in did the zebra change his stripes?)
“Mr. Limbaugh celebrated 20 years of broadcasting today.”
Wow. The fanfare is overwhelming. Nobody outside of Ron even knew this. Where’s the fireworks and parades and giant-ass birthday cake donated by Exxon? Did Mr. Limbaugh pontificate how cool he is through his entire show today, or just 90% of it? Just wondering.
Back on topic, Dvorak writes, “In this race for mindshare, Microsoft is the tortoise and Apple is the hare. 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.”
There’s a perfectly logical explanation. His check from Microsoft bounced. This is his payback.
Even an old, broken, analogue, Grandfather clock, like Dvorak, is right twice a day.
my guess? he isn’t having any luck baiting Mac users, so now he is baiting MS astro turfers.
and, as a sad aside to Ron…..
clearly you are one of the 12 people his listen to his hypocritical gasbagness. no one else cares.
neomonkey, ” Even if the offshore drilling in contention were allowed, it would take 10 years for leases to be awarded, and another 10 years before any oil is pumped.”
If I don’t lay the first brick, the wall won’t be built. Nothing will be pumped if we don’t start, you maroon.
You libs are a joke – “Shut down the House Nancy, we can’t afford to have a vote on drilling offshore”. The price of oil went down right after the Prez OK’d offshore drilling. Why? Because the speculators got out.
I saw on CBS evening news the other day where most of this oil is offshore of California. They said that even if we get all of this oil that at the current usage rate it will only last 16 months.
That sure will turn it all around.
In the meantime, McCain (not to be confused with McAble) is going to suspend the gas tax. Brilliant! He’s not only a hero, he’s a savior. That’s the kind of logic we need. They need to wrap that old mummy up and stuff him back in his sarcophagus.
“One of those rare moments from Dvorak, or maybe Microsoft forgot to mail the check?”
Sounds like he got Mossberg’s check by accident.