Friday Blog Question: Is Windows Vista THAT bad?

AdAge recently criticized Microsoft for a not-so-clever ad campaign meant to help boost the tarnished reputation of their Vista program.

The online campaign features a “Punk’d”-style commercial where unsuspecting average Joe’s who refuse to try Vista because of what other users have said try a new program called “Mojave” that they rave about, only to find out that it’s really Vista. And no, Ashton Kutcher unfortunately does not make a cameo. Darn.

Not-so-hot marketing aside, is it true - is Vista not really as bad as people say? What has your experience been with Vista and would you recommend it to a friend? Essentially - would you be punk’d if you were the star of this campaign?

At home, we recently needed a laptop and one major factor in our buying decision was the ability to downgrade to XP from Vista. We were amazed at the numerous options but it came with a price tag. In the end, the best deal included Vista, which we decided to try for giggles. For the non-technical consumer, Vista has too many unnecessary nag screens to change and turn off. For everyone, Vista is slooooooooooooooooooooooow to start up. There are many more reasons we don’t like Vista. In short, Vista reinforced our decision to switch to Mac. We still have the Vista-infested laptop but our main computer is now an Apple.

Judi Merrick

Vista is not as bad as people have said, but the point is that it is not so much better than Windows XP that it warrants an upgrade. The unfortunate thing here is that Microsoft is essentially saying people are too stupid and/or ignorant to realize what they’re missing.

The fact is the jump from Windows 98 to Windows XP was a no-brainer. Vista is prettier and ostensibly more secure, but having had nearly seven years to perfect it, Windows XP is generally considered good enough for most people.

That’s one reason Apple is doing so well these days. Mac OS X is an upgrade from any version of Windows.

Joseph Jaramillo

I have not used Vista much to say “yay” or “nay” but I do know my fiancee who is getting me a lap top for school is working really hard to find one that doesn’t have Vista on it, and he hasn’t used Vista much either. So, either way, they really do need a better product, marketing campaign or both.

Michelle Talsma

I think it’s telling that there were so few responses to this question, only because so few people have bothered to buy a computer with Vista on it. I bought my computer when Vista came out, specifically so I could find the best, last available XP machine. (I wouldn’t have bothered, of course, if I had known the consumer computer industry would rebel the way it did.)

Microsoft, essentially, does what no other company in the world would be able to get away with: Release something they knew didn’t work properly, telling consumers, “we’ll get around to fixing that.” If General Motors started releasing cars that didn’t work properly because they were rushing them out the door, but promised to send mechanics to everyone’s house in the middle of the night over the next four years to put in the missing parts, I’m not sure their lawyers would ever physically leave federal court.

Then again, General Motors doesn’t build one of only two available models of car. Windows is simply lucky that Macs are so much more expensive, and that you can essentially build a PC out of bailing wire, duct tape and a dream.

Eric Reid

written at August 1st, 2008 and is filed under Advertising, General Online Advertising, friday blog question. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.