MojaveExperiment
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Switched On: The Mo' hardware Experiment
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about technology, multimedia, and digital entertainment. What do people think of Windows Vista when they learn more about some of its features? To find out, we located three people who had been living in a cave around the time of the massive advertising campaign at Vista's launch and started out by asking them what they thought of Windows Vista.Subject 1: "My niece was looking up something for her nutritional science class and went to this Web site called apple.com. There were a lot of videos there that said Vista was bad."Subject 2: "I've heard that Windows Vista gives you scabies."Subject 3: "Four of my friends on the American Online forwarded me an email that said Bill Gates would give me $10 million if I would tell my friends to buy Windows Vista and he didn't. It must stink."Then we told them about some of the great hardware that Windows Vista supports.
Mojave Experiment goes live, doesn't fail to annoy
Alright, as much as we prefer blind conjecture, we've seen it for ourselves now and Microsoft's "Mojave Experiment" is pretty much everything we expected it to be. To Microsoft's credit, they've managed to get the nicest collection of statements ever made about Windows Vista condensed into cute little candid sound bytes from that really honest person next door. It's just too bad they had to use base trickery to do it. Oh, and in case you're into trumped up numbers: average rating of Windows Vista was 4.5, average rating of Mojave was 8.5. What are you trying to say, Microsoft? That people heard really bad things from their friends and co-workers, but a slick 10 minute sales presentation showed them the light?Update: We're hearing you guys loud and clear in comments. We'll admit, we hate senseless Microsoft / Vista bashing just as much as the next guy, and that's not what this is about. The problem here is Microsoft basically filmed itself an infomercial (or "pulled a Pizza Hut," as pointed out in comments) and is passing it off as some interesting experiment into FUD. If these users had been sent home for a week or so with a Vista machine -- or better yet, a copy of Vista to install themselves -- that'd be a whole different story, but they weren't. There was no scientific method in play, no control experiment, nothing. They were shown a 10 minute demo. That's it.Read - The "Mojave Experiment"Read - Windows Vista Team Blog
Microsoft's Mojave Experiment "promotes" Vista -- Ashton Kutcher-style
You may have heard that Microsoft is "like, totally serious, guys" about patching up Vista's good name, and, well, so far they're off to a rocky start. After pushing up a few lackluster web ads, they've decided to trick users en masse to prove a point. They've termed the Punk'ing the "Mojave Experiment," which placed 120 regular computer users of all different OS persuasions in front of a Vista box, except they were told they were getting to look at the next Microsoft OS, codenamed "Mojave." Results of the test will be unveiled tomorrow in what are sure to be glowing customer reports. Scientific validity of this test aside, we're not exactly sure testimonials from a blind taste test are going to turn the tide of Vista ill-will, but now we're starting to sound like Demi Moore our parents. [Via Techdirt]
