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Microsoft "Mojave" Tricks XP Users Into Liking Vista
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Jason Mick / DailyTech
July 28, 2008
‘Turns out some of Vista’s strongest critics may not even know what they’re criticizing.’ -
Microsoft, the reigning OS king, has received more than its share of criticism for Windows Vista. The OS, which suffered both from poor initial hardware compatibility and from relatively large resource demands has been shunned by many of the largest players in the business community. Some have come out in vocal support of Vista, arguing against those who feel Vista is broken an XP downgrade might be in order.
These supporters got a little more ammo to back their arguments thanks to a comical experiment put on by Microsoft. As part of its new PR efforts, which include “anti-Mac Guy” commercials, Microsoft conducted a top secret experiment known as the “Mojave” Experiment.
Inspired by an employee email from Microsoft’s David Webster, the Vista team gathered over 120 XP users in San Francisco who were critical of Windows Vista. After being questioned on video about their Vista impressions, Microsoft told them it was giving them a stunning opportunity—the chance to view their secret operating system they had been cooking up, codenamed “Mojave”. The excited users showed great enthusiasm for the new operating system, with over 90 percent giving positive feedback of the 10 minute demo of the system.
The comic twist is that there is no “Mojave” and it wasn’t a pre-release version of Windows 7. “Mojave” was simply a fictitious title applied to a standard Windows Vista install. Interestingly, the XP users seemed utterly unable to recognize Vista or its features, despite criticizing it. Remarked one user on the new features, “Oh wow!”
While it has been pointed out that the experience neglects to consider installation and networking setup, the “Mojave” experiment provides a strong case for the upsides of Vista analogous to the classic blind taste test advertising gimmick. While Microsoft is still deliberating on how to incorporate the footage into its advertising campaigns, suffice it to say, it is coming soon.
Windows unit business chief Bill Veghte says big efforts are needed to step up Microsoft’s image against competitors like Apple and Google. He states, “We have a huge perception opportunity. We are going to try a bunch of stuff.”
Mr. Veghte points to the “Assurance” campaign for Vista launched earlier this month which offers free technical phone support for the first time. While the move will likely cost Microsoft in the millions, many believe it will help Microsoft show that it is willing to support Vista fully, including when users encounter trouble.
Footage for the campaign was first revealed last week. The site which they will be featured on is here. The footage will be released to the public on Tuesday of this week.
However, trouble in Vista Mr. Veghte asserts, is a rarity and the main problem for the OS is perception. Mr. Veghte is known to stew over Apple commercials on his morning jogs. His decision to encourage Microsoft to commit to the massive new PR effort was finally solidified when he decided that Apple had “crossed a line” from factual to fallacious accusations. Marketing vice president Brad Brook echoed similar sentiments, stating that Microsoft would be “drawing a line in the sand’
Steve Ballmer, Microsoft CEO also shares these feelings, stating, “In the weeks ahead, we’ll launch a campaign to address any lingering doubts our customers may have about Windows Vista. And later this year, you’ll see a more comprehensive effort to redefine the meaning and value of Windows for our customers.”
However, at the end of the day the Mojave ruse may prove a more valuable marketing tool than anything Mr. Ballmer or Mr. Veghte could say or do on their own, as it’s the voice of everyday users.
With rival Apple showing strong signs of hardware growth, fueled by its virulent advertising campaign, which many call factually questionable, Microsoft has decided to step up to the plate to challenge its assertions. Mojave should be a key effort in this new campaign. Mr. Veghte believes that the Vista team cannot wait for Windows 7 to change their fortune; they must attack now. He states, “I’ve got to start having that discussion in the marketplace. I’ve got to start driving that now. People feel guilty (about Vista). It’s wrong.”
Don’t be surprised if you start seeing Microsoft “Mojave” commercials coming soon to a television near you.
© 2008, DailyTech
Kazi
2 months ago
2 comments
i think it is not good enough from windows and windows xp there are more graphical mode that is cause slow for pc
abednegoyulo
2 months ago
4 comments
tocati, I am not, and I am sure that I am not the only one, only a critic but also a Systems Administrator, a linux user of various flavors, a windows user of different versions, and a mac osx user. I don't say what others say to me, I only say what I have experienced. Its not that I am not welcoming vista, its just that the experience that I had with it is not so nice. If you had some good experiences with it, meaning it served what you need, then good for you! But the problem is it does not serve me well and even my coworkers. Just like what you have said "life gives u choice", my choice is not to use vista but rather xp instead (if ms products are the only available products) and my company's choice is not to go through company wide hardware upgrade just for vista. Come to think of it, ms will be releasing its new product next year. When that product comes out, our company will evaluate that product and will try to see if that product will fit to us (in terms of budget). Its only a few months away. Why rush in upgrading?
mooman177
2 months ago
12 comments
is tocati drunk? Maybe hes had alittle too much tacati.
haha just kidding
tocati
2 months ago
6 comments
am surprised even crictics don't get it ..
life gives u a choice...every tech or life event gives u pros and cons..peeps wake up and choose to mi Vista firewalls are easy i can crash ma system any time i feel like so hey; love the tech game................... don't oppose Bill's retirement... we love MS.simple and clear teach the jassass like i. the simple way...it rocks. forever. vista so pliz welcome it.
the world am in. thanx
Arbiter1
2 months ago
8 comments
I am actually a person who loves Vista just like I love XP. Both are unique, they include tons of features and are eqully troublesome when given the opportunity. I have a BASIC LOW-END GATEWAY LAPTOP that runs Vista just fine. I can't run any high-end gaming programs, but that's because I don't have the processing capacity of my beastly XP Desktop that I've dumped over 2500 into in its lifetime. I think people need to give Vista a chance as we did when transitioning to XP. It's simply a learning curve on a new program, not the end of the world.
da1hobo
2 months ago
8 comments
It seems to be the general consensus that the only people who like Vista are those who like the "pretty graphics" and are those who don't set up networks. Personally I like Vista, while it is unstable on low quality computers, I don't have numerous problems like so many seem to claim. It might be the fact that I have gotten used to the interface, or that I sat down and figured out Vista's quirks when it comes to networking, but I don't have any problems with the OS.
I admit that I was hesitant to upgrade from XP, but when my hard drive crashed I figured there was no point in not upgrading since Windows would eventually drop XP anyway.
Also the specs of the computer with "mojave" installed was obviously a decent computer. Not the low end piece of junk that most people tend to purchase from big retailers.
keepitsimpleengineer
3 months ago
4 comments
My guess is that top MS techs got the Vista features to work on a high end machine, and that's why XP users seemed utterly unable to recognize Vista or its features. Kind of like the happy Verizon user followed by the horde of techs. I have tar' ed my Vista Ultimate and now use Ubuntu, with XP as back-up.
abednegoyulo
3 months ago
4 comments
How nice that they have picked users who don't connect to a multi-platform network. I have to admit that in our network, I use a certain linux distro. The person who uses Vista in our network is a programmer. Besides him owning the machine (a HP laptop), he is also a very geeky person. So geeky that he has his own team in building and maintaining network for the goverment. In short, he knows more than I do but still he usually curse Vista for whatever thing that he cannot do with it. He got so pissed off that he is now planning on installing XP sp3 (dual boot) on the machine.
In my personal experience: migration from 95 to 98 was terrific, migration to 98 to XP was supperb, but migration from XP to Vista is terrible. I found this out last year when I was given a chance by our company to use Vista, so that I could give support to everybody else but the thing is Vista did not stay very long in my box because of network problems. Yeah I could surf the internet, but printer, remote network, and NAS access lead me to downgrading to XP. Yeah my boss just wanted to know if he could surf the internet because its the only thing that he needs to do so he sticked with it.
Sure Vista is for the non-multi-platform, not so technically demanding user. I would personally rate XP much higher than Vista, if eye-candy is your thing, try using linux with 256MB of ram and 8MB of shared memory for the video, you would not believe what it can do that Vista requires you to have 512MB of ram (but in reallity you must have 1GB to have a seamless GUI) and 128MB of video card.
With this said, did they said what are the specs of the machine which "Mojave" was installed?
pittzgreen
3 months ago
2 comments
sin, what problems are you having SPECIFICALLY with Vista? I agree with Microsoft on this one. I have only heard critisism about Vista from those who have never used it. Everyone that I know who uses Vista (myself included) loves it.
mooman177
3 months ago
12 comments
Maybe Vista is smarter than you think and just doesn't like you, so it runs like garbage on purpose for you but great for all of us. : )
sin_d_fetish
3 months ago
4 comments
And yes I'm ruuning on a HP with a 3 Gig procc with 3 gig mem. ...more than enough to handle this garbage.
sin_d_fetish
3 months ago
4 comments
I've worked with PC's since the 8080 Processor, and this is by far the worst OS Windows has. I've had it on my PC for 9 months now and am still having compat. problems, h.ware problems, and a good portion of the so called "VISTA Compatable" s.ware does not work. I would LOVE so see a downgrade to XP>>>>>>BEWARE VISTA OS is terrible....I didn't believe the stories either and went and got it.........bad move. Do this so called test with VISTA users....you'll get a different response.
Chrisdafrenchie
3 months ago
248 comments
Love the bling bling from Vista :)
mooman177
3 months ago
12 comments
The fact that you had to write a script and hack your leopard cd just to get it running on a dell is proof enough! You dont need to "hack windows" to put it on a mac, it just loads right on because it doesn't require a special chip on the motherboard! The everyday user doesn't know how to hack mac to get it to run on a $98 tower. The point is, I love mac, and i love vista, and I have both, but as far as "compatibility" is concerned, Vista wins, and as far as "fun and cute" is concerned, mac definitly wins, it just costs much more to own a mac. End of story
bigbro1111
3 months ago
2 comments
People people sheeple... I support computers, I am very very glad I do not have to deploy vista on every machine at my company. Vista might be ok for the average joe, someone who doesnt know what they are doing or needs to be told 30 times are you sure you want to empty the recycle bin? First, the control panel is worse now than ever before, have you tried changing your desktop background? and then tried to change the screen saver, what happened to the tabs? I have turned the notification off on my computer, I installed Vista just to get and idea of how it works, and ive been using it for over 6 months now... I just hate reinstalling windows, because of requiring to re-install every program i use. That needs to change... they need to setup a second partition and keep the programs there, or stop putting files in the system 32 folder program files, documentsadsetting/user/application data they need to quit this crap, on an apple its as simple as putting the program in its folder, whalla! I am not a MAC guy, but I put mac on a dell and an HP tower using Leo4all Kalyway, and Iakatos took a bit to get the nic card working in fact I had to right a script that runs at login to desgnate the mac address, but, you should see how freaking fast Leopard works compared to XP Vista or hell i dunno anything else, it take 30 seconds to boot up once it boots its ready to go, I dont wait for crap to load in the system tray, I dont need to run a boggy antivirus program, because its a modified UNIX platform. Unix is old and reliable, kind of like how cars used to be... anyways long story short, vista has many shortcomings in my opinion, and it is just that an opinion, but those users didnt have to setup a network on the pc or do anything functional they just looked at it played with it, its like not the same thing as sitting there trying to solve a rubix cube, rubix is pretty cool till you give up from disappointment of being unable to solve it. besides Mojave sounds cool but for anyone whos been in the desert there, might not think it sounds cool at all.
Microsoft needs to get its act together, Apple is coming out with a touchscreen here soon, which i dunno i dont have a problem using a mouse but... you might start seeing mini mac's in cars replacing tom toms, an actual computer in the car, some people have pc's in their rides... anyways, im not ready to switch to vista, ive been trying it but, im going to put xp back on it, it just runs smoother faster better, they both crash but at least XP is "stable" (if you go with the definition that stable is inconsistent(dont know what language that would be though cause stable to me means infallible--> It is something that can be safely relied on))