Microsoft takes a swipe at Apple's "I'm a Mac" ads

Like you, we've seen a number of spoofs of the "I'm a Mac, and I'm a PC" ads. But most of them just make fun of the whole concept, rather than take on Apple, or a particular Apple product, directly. Well, Microsoft's just produced yet another rather clever parody pitting a Zune-toting PC with an iPod-carrying Mac, and apparently screened the ad at a recent company meeting. The sticking point is how "difficult" it is to get music onto the iPod versus how "simple" it is on the Zune. Not that we think the iPod is a paragon of usability, but we can't not bring up the fact that we'd love to see Microsoft live up to its claim and really make getting music as easy as pushing a single button. Anyway, you can catch the video on the next page.

[Jitty @ Dec 13th 2006 11:00PM]

Wow, finally, not bad...

[Stephen Marshall @ Dec 13th 2006 11:02PM]

yea well my ipod holds 80 gigs and the new nanos are hard to scratch plus you can probably fit about 4 nanos into a zune no problem and didnt engadget have problems just loading the zune software???

[Deluxe @ Dec 13th 2006 11:11PM]

Too much crack.

[Wow. @ Dec 14th 2006 12:21PM]

.......

You see those? You forgot them.

[Mark Wright @ Dec 13th 2006 11:02PM]

I think apple should recruit that mac guy, I like him better.

[Eric M @ Dec 13th 2006 11:03PM]

WELCOME TO THE SOCIAL... er... DRM

[Zach @ Dec 14th 2006 9:54AM]

AMEN.


That's the only reason I don't consider that thing, the DRM.

[mrsalty @ Dec 13th 2006 11:03PM]

I don't think Microsoft actually produced this video. I'm sure we will see a rebuttal with Monkey Boy licking a Zune very soon from the Apple Folks.

[Zadillo @ Dec 13th 2006 11:03PM]

I think this ad might be more effective to me if I actually knew any other people with Zunes so that the issue of someone "beaming" their songs to me was something I even saw as a remote possibility.

[Mike @ Dec 13th 2006 11:06PM]

Yeah - this is really going to boost sales of the Zune and destroy iPod's dominance in the market place - NOT...

[carl @ Dec 14th 2006 3:26PM]

well im pretty sure (dont quote me on this) but u have to sync up a zune too. u also have to download songs to put on the zune. although u can share songs, guess what? after 3 plays, no more song. that doesnt sound all that great to me. ill stick with the far superior ipod.

[Brian @ Dec 13th 2006 11:10PM]

That was horrible. I'm not an Apple fanboy or anything, but if it's real copying the ad is going to do real good, peple will just think it's an Apple ad at a glance. Second, it can't be that easy to get the song. Don't you have to still buy it and give them all your info?

[kuchingclaw @ Dec 14th 2006 1:17AM]

isn't it false advertising since we know that you can only beam zune songs to zune? Furthermore it's based on weedshare model. The songs last for what was it - three plays ?

[Cardbored @ Dec 13th 2006 11:14PM]

stupid and twist the truth.... sounds just like a mac comercial

[Casey S. @ Dec 13th 2006 11:17PM]

Some of you people don't realize that this isn't a commercial that was meant for the public. It's one of Microsoft's many spoof videos meant for internal use only. (See the spoof of Microsoft packaging of an ipod)

[mertz @ Dec 14th 2006 3:49PM]

wow. i bet something that poorly written and poorly produced really fires up the troops in redmond.

[Alex @ Dec 13th 2006 11:19PM]

Ummmm....since when has doing anything MS involved been easy? Besides, this just another example of MS ripping off Apple's ideas? Anyone ever heard of Unix? Exactly(for those who haven't), because you grew up on DOS. But besides that, MS did well integrating themselves into the video game market with the Xbox and Xbox360, but that was a market that needed a newcomer? Does anyone really hate the iPod...because if you ask me, the Zune is gonna go the way of the Nomad Jukebox.

[Glorious information for make Mac Fanboys less retarded. @ Dec 14th 2006 10:40AM]

In reply to Alex:

I hate the iPod with a passion that far exceeds my hatred for any Microshaft product. I think it is about time someone uses Apples unintelligible, incoherent, misleading and downright incorrect ads against them.

Too bad this will never see the light of day as have few other anti-mac ads, because somehow you "Freedom of speech" loving know-nothings who worship the mac so much have the ability to sensor those who hate how impractical and exorbitantly over-expensive the unreliable MacOS is.

And before you go think I do not know what I speak of, I spend MORE time on Mac than I do Winblows or Unix because I have a moronic Mac fanboy boss who would rather waste a year's productivity adapting very highly complex code to work with the new Intel macs rather than keeping it as much more efficient code on the much more flexible Unix or even Winblows OS'.

I hate everything Apple and anyone who likes it with a passion. You fanboys are so very misinformed that it makes my blood both curdle and boil at the same time.

[Chris @ Dec 13th 2006 11:22PM]

Yeah, I think it's funny how they're using last year's nano as a comparison for the Zune (not that the scratching issue couldn't apply if they used this year's 5.5G). It seems obvious to me that this was not made by Microsoft (their ads are more like a couple tiny glances at the Zune with no explanation of the features).

You know, I really do like the Zune (I know two people that have them!), but I definately wouldn't be pushing the Zune's wireless capabilities as crippled as they are; I'm more intrigued by the scratch-resistence, the [slightly] bigger screen, and the fabulous user interface. At any rate, transferring music won't be as easy as clicking a button as long as Zunes are as rare as they are.

[thumbs @ Dec 13th 2006 11:24PM]

easy...if you can find someone with a zune

[Gary T @ Dec 13th 2006 11:24PM]

Um yeah... I get the joke, but the banter wasn't very clever, nor was it presented very wittily.

That's kind of 80% of the charm of the Mac ads. This comes-off as a clueless parody that makes Microsoft look st00pid, IMHO.

[juztin @ Dec 13th 2006 11:26PM]

It's always funny to see people defending mac products. Personally, I would not be on any platform that makes me wait MONTHS to YEARS to NEVER before getting similar software. Just look at any cool add ons provided by smaller developers, and you will see a chorus of message board submissions begging for the "mac version". Either go linux, and write your own damn software and find your own drivers, or stick to Windows, and at least get the most popular software right away. Why go with Mac? They just suck.

[Alex @ Dec 13th 2006 11:59PM]

Mac Sucks??? Really? Man, I've been using Macintosh for say about 12 years already and I've got peace of mind which I never had before when I was using Windows PC's. Now it gets even better with intel processors. Now you can run windows too with your mac, no viruses and spy wares at least for now. What more can you ask. If there's anything that sucks it's you!

[Kevin @ Dec 14th 2006 12:03AM]

"They just suck"

What an intelligent argument! Plus, a great set-up for it too...you start off with a cohesive argument, then close with an argument a third grader would be ashamed to use...

Top notch. Really.

[Brandon @ Dec 14th 2006 12:52AM]

Your statement doesn't make you look cool in the slightest. All it does is show how little you really know about the subject matter. Your claim about having to wait months, years, never, etc for similar software is embarrasingly false. The fact of the matter is that virtually every software for PC is available for Mac. Your statement is very obviously referring to gaming software. There aren't many games available for Mac. I can't defend that and I won't try.

That being said, what software are you really waiting for on Mac? Microsoft Office? Surely you read the issue of PC World magazine in which they found Office 2004 for Mac to be better than the PC counterpart. Instant messaging apps like AIM, Yahoo, MSN, or ICQ to keep in touch with your 1337 buddies? Check. Industry-standard audio and video editing programs like Final Cut Pro, Adobe After Effects, Apple Logic, digidesign Pro Tools, Adobe Audition, DVD Studio Pro, and Shake? Got them too. Photoshop and Illustrator? Roger. Web design tools like Dreamweaver and GoLive? Yup.

Need I say more? Oh yeah.... one more... the worlds most advanced and stable operating system with less than 10 known viruses for it. Affirmative.

[Jonathan Allen @ Dec 14th 2006 6:02AM]

p.s. juZtin (sic), you suck......at arguing your p.c. position.

Brandon has made an excellent argument, so I don't need to say much more besides the fact that have you forgotten the XP launched nearly 7 years ago? How's that for waiting "MONTHS to YEARS" for your software? Also XP 64 doesn't count, because......well..... it just never did count, did it?

[chris @ Dec 15th 2006 6:02AM]

You obviously have never used a mac before Juztin. I used to use PCs only because my family simply didn't have macs. I bought a MacBook because I slowly fell for the Apple charm, and will never look back.

There are sooooo many cool little applications for OS X it's unbelievable. You can spend weeks just browsing through all the free software on the apple site for download. MacSaber, SeisMac, QuickSilver and co are my favourites.

Don't just slag Apple off because you think its "cool" to do it. Try one out for a week, then feel free. But you won't, because you're stuck in that retarded windows mentality where you think you're using a really good OS, that does everything you want, when you want.

Open your mind up a little, and you'll get things done twice as fast, and in style.
And if you pull the gaming topic up, then I'll just tell you to grow up and get a life.

The world would be a better place if for all the time you Windows fanboys were gaming was spent helping old ladies across the street or something of the like.

[juztin @ Dec 15th 2006 8:04AM]

1) I spell my name Juztin. Zo zuck it.
2) Again, it is interesting to see apple fanboys pipe up. Only 10 viruses? Thats because Apple commands only 2% market share. Compare with linux: It has 3% market share, and 15 known viruses. Unfortunately you are wrong..there are more than 100 known apple viruses. Poor research and faulty logic on your part. (Google "known apple viruses" and wiki "known linux viruses")
3) Which is why..if you want a rock-solid install, use a flavor of linux, then when the latest-greatest software comes out, you can find a way to get it running yourself, and you don't have to wait for a developer to do it for you. If you want to be able to run everything and anything, and don't want to wait 6mos after a program proves to be popular enough for a developer to bother writing a mac version, then get a PC. The only market for Macs are the graphic designers who have been using them since the 90s, and really snotty faux rich, who feel that somehow, the clean lines and trendy design of mac products fills their otherwise empty existental lives.

And P.S. guys...you can rave about apple all you want here, but go to a site where you can download shareware and freeware, and there invariably be a chorus of unhappy mac owners demanding the developer issue the "mac version" of his program. You know it, and I know it, so why argue?

[Timta2 @ Dec 15th 2006 3:46PM]

Please Juztin, give us an example of software that people are begging for a Mac version of. Haha. Good job with your argument, are you 12 or 13 years old?

[LittleJoe @ Dec 13th 2006 11:27PM]

oh man... that was awful, lol

[Cade @ Dec 13th 2006 11:36PM]

Why do you have to write the song name on a blank sheet of paper? Or go onto your friend's blog?
MS seems to have little tact.

[Rick @ Dec 13th 2006 11:36PM]

Did they take a wipe with the brown zune, or the white one?

[Dustin @ Dec 14th 2006 12:40AM]

Quote: Rick @ Dec 13th 2006 11:36PM
Did they take a wipe with the brown zune, or the white one?

Well, you see, after they wiped with the white one, it was brown.

[Barry @ Dec 14th 2006 2:43AM]

They don't mention the part where iPod users can just plug into their friends iTunes and share music wholesale, DRM-free. That, and it's not impossible to find a friend with iTunes.

Also, the lack of anything bigger than 30 Gs makes the Zune a non-starter. I didn't even look at the iPod until they came out with 80 Gs, and that's still almost too small.

[Killian @ Dec 14th 2006 1:08PM]

That was pretty bad... I have yet to write down the name of a song I wanted on a piece of paper, go on my friend's blog, then bought it on iTunes just to get a song... and if you ever eventually do find someone with a Zune, and you listen to the same song, you apparently have to go through the same process with Microsoft's software (if you can get it to work long enough to do so). So what's the point?

[Intrepid @ Dec 13th 2006 11:47PM]

YAY! Go Microsoft! :)

[Macinjosh @ Dec 13th 2006 11:47PM]

Gimmee an F'ing break, MS. First, you can only "listen to" not "own" the song. Second, why dont they explain how "easy" it is to install that garbage Zune Marketplace program & download songs from it or how big & ugly the Zune is with its crap UI?? And last, MS DOESNT EVEN MAKE THE ZUNE, TOSHIBA DOES! Yeah, way to go MS. You really burned iPod users with that ad. Losers.

[Killian @ Dec 14th 2006 1:08PM]

Way to put this on YouTube and here... just in case someone might have missed the point

[Intrepid @ Dec 13th 2006 11:59PM]

With a name like "Macinjosh"... can anyone say fanboy? Not that I am not a MS fanboy, but Mac fanboys are crazy-lying-psychopathic-nutjobs by nature.

[Michaelsoft @ Dec 14th 2006 12:13AM]

And lastly, APPLE DOESN'T EVEN MAKE THE IPOD, FOXCONN DOES!

Yeah way to go Macinjosh. You really burned Zune users with that completely uninformed comment. Loser.

[v_dogg @ Dec 14th 2006 12:23AM]

hahah, wow this shows how stupid microsoft is. Ya, you can transfer a song easily, but for 3 plays

[Rick @ Dec 14th 2006 12:00AM]

Too bad this commercial won't make sense come January when iPods redefine "the social" by getting their own brand of wifi.

[A-ron @ Dec 14th 2006 12:00AM]

But of course they don't mention that the beamed song only lasts on your Zune for 3 days or 3 plays (even partial plays count), whichever comes first. Then all you have is a link to buy it. This beside the fact that the Mac guy already put in his CC info (which the Zune guy also had to do) a long time ago.

Even an MS employee should be smart enough to realize they're getting some serious spin from this "ad".

[Intrepid @ Dec 14th 2006 12:03AM]

But A-ron, that's teh beauty of the advert. It's misleading, but doens't lie. Just like the Apple adverts.
i.e Macman says "I don't get 'your' viruses/spyware", but doesn't admit that he has his own, or that the fact that only 5% of people use Macs makes them a non-target.

[Alex @ Dec 14th 2006 12:15AM]

Does MS also explained the similarity of the Vista with Tiger?? and what viruses? can you name at least 10 for mac? I heard there's one that's that's not even damaging. With regard to the 5% my ten cents worth of opinion is MS got a good head start because of marketing, they allow most PC manufacturers to run their system its an open source system while Mac for most of the time runs exclusively on Mac Machines and were sold more expensively. But nevertheless a very good system and a hardware to boot.

[MarkZ @ Dec 14th 2006 2:31PM]

Alex @ Dec 14th 2006 12:14AM
Does MS also explained the similarity of the Vista with Tiger?? and what viruses? can you name at least 10 for mac? I heard there's one that's that's not even damaging. With regard to the 5% my ten cents worth of opinion is MS got a good head start because of marketing, they allow most PC manufacturers to run their system its an open source system while Mac for most of the time runs exclusively on Mac Machines and were sold more expensively. But nevertheless a very good system and a hardware to boot.

Alex, kindly return when you learn exactly what it is you're talking about.

[PalmerDeville @ Dec 16th 2006 12:14PM]

Actually, it lies in the first 30 seconds when the Zune guy says Zune transfers video via WiFi.

[Jean-Michel Decombe @ Dec 14th 2006 12:04AM]

I don't think Microsoft's strategy of trying to be cool to sell Zunes is going to work. Either you're cool or you're not (and accepting that actually makes you cool in a different kind of way... it's all about being yourself). But if you have to pretend you're cool, you're definitely not cool. Keep that in mind, Microsoft. It served you well in the gaming market, where you definitely beat the crap out of Apple.

What Microsoft should really do is to focus on making Zune better than iPod. They should focus on quality and features and simplicity, and let the Zune speak for itself. And they should let Zune develop a following through word of mouth.

I will most likely stick with iPod myself, but only because I have always been a Mac user from the start. Yet, competition will be good to make the iPod better, since it can definitely be improved.

Oh, and Apple, please get rid of that Mac guy in your commercials. He's way too nerdy in a smug kind of way (I'm talking about the character here; I'm sure the actor is a nice guy). As someone said above, the Mac guy in the Microsoft spoof video is much cooler, in some easygoing bad boy kind of way.

[Dave95 @ Dec 14th 2006 12:10AM]

Oh the nerve, the nerve of them!

First of I know this is parody and not to be taken seriously but, don't think their new partners (RIAA, especially Universal) would appreciate the hacking reference at the end. Stay tuned, lets see if this makes it to the offices of the stiffs.

But we are laughing at you with this 1st Zune MS not with you!

[Macinjosh @ Dec 14th 2006 12:48AM]

First off, Michaelsoft. Apple DESIGNED the iPod from the ground up. Yeah, Foxconn MANUFACTURES the iPod, so what? Second, the Zune is just a Toshiba Gigabeat with a different outer casing & UI. Thats it! Everything else is EXACTLY THE SAME & Toshiba even makes it for them right alongside the Gigabeat, just slaps a different casing on it. So in that sense, its generic. See the difference?? You probably cant, but thanks for trying. I know, reading is hard.

Can you feel that?? As you look at this post on that ugly machine sitting in front of you called a Windows PC?? Its called a burn!