How does Microsoft love Vista? Let thee count the ways.
Microsoft has published a list of 100 reasons why, in its opinion, Vista will leave you speechless. (Detractors should insert their own punchline here.)
The list appears when you follow links from the company’s new ‘flat earth’ advertising campaign. It’s accompanied by the stark admission that “a few of you were disappointed by your early encounter [with Vista]. Printers didn’t work. Games felt sluggish. You told us—loudly at times—that the latest Windows wasn’t always living up to your high expectations for a Microsoft product.”
The list of 100 positives does take a few liberties: for example, point one “Windows Vista makes using your PC a breeze” covers Instant Search and Aero, both of which then get their own listings. Most of the entries are variations on a few themes: easier searching, prettier graphics, improved security and the features of Windows Media Center.
And a few of the entries are a bit of a stretch, though that’s only to be expected when your publicity staff are trying to reach a neat round number like 100. For example, it being feasible to play chess on your TV through Media Center and a streaming device is unlikely to swing many potential buyers. And talking up the benefits of Internet Explorer 7 assumes the reader doesn’t realise they can just download it on an XP machine.
But the list does cover quite a few features which, while not deal-breakers, could be useful, particularly for mainstream users. These include using Domain Join (in Ultimate and Business editions) to connect to school or corporate networks; the range of parental controls (which can even limit how long children use the machine); and the ReadyBoost system which lets you top-up your PC’s memory by simply inserting a USB flash drive.
There’s very little in the list that expert users couldn’t do with third-party software, in some cases more efficiently or reliable. And many may feel some of the ‘benefits’ are more trouble than they are worth.
But it’s worth remembering that Microsoft’s main audience is the casual computer user who has little interest in altering settings or installing alternative applications. To those people, this list may prove to be persuasive.
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August 9th, 2008
From Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Word_of_mouth):
Word-of-mouth marketing, which encompasses a variety of subcategories, including buzz, blog, viral, grassroots, cause, influencer and social media marketing, as well as ambassador programs, work with consumer-generated media and more, can be highly valued by product marketers. Because of the personal nature of the communications between individuals, it is believed that product information communicated in this way has an added layer of credibility. Research points to individuals being more inclined to believe WOMM than more formal forms of promotion methods; the receiver of word-of-mouth referrals tends to believe that the communicator is speaking honestly and is unlikely to have an ulterior motive (i.e. they are not receiving an incentive for their referrals).
The information stated above points to a *big* problem that Microsoft has with Vista: it’s not just that it is a dog, but that so many people are talking about this fact. The Internet, of course, facilitates such communication, and means that rather than meagre feedback (which can be dismissed as coming from fools and the disaffected), there is a veritable flood of complaints, many of which are based on first-hand experience.
The other side of the coin is that Microsoft, whose credibility has been declining for years, made the very serious mistake of labelling PCs as “Vista Capable” when they clearly were not. This was hardly going to engender confidence in any subsequent statements by Microsoft.
Given the above, I’m not sure that this marketing ploy will cut much ice – indeed, to the discerning it may smack of desperation.
August 18th, 2008
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