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Microsoft Tries a "Switch" Campaign
Twirlip of the Mists writes "There's a new page on Microsoft's web site that tells the first-person story of an unnamed 'freelance writer' who made the switch from the Mac to Windows XP. The author of the page -- who never identifies herself, and who could very easily be fictional or a composite sketch -- says 'Windows XP gives me more choices and flexibility.' How, you ask? Why, through Microsoft Office, Internet Explorer, and modern operating-system features like separate accounts for each user and easy access to the Internet, of course. Maybe somebody should email Microsoft and let them know that the Mac has had all of these things for years now ... nah. It'd just embarrass them. Anyway, it's an entertaining read that's good for a laugh." Update: 10/14 21:12 GMT by P : Apparently, Microsoft has taken the page down, but Google has it.
Just another story designed to make you buy Microsoft's worthless junk. Who really cares? Sure, XP is one of the most bloated fully functional systems out there. It comes with all the junk you could want. Some of us would rather find the good stuff and not have it all come as part of the operating system though. In that way, XP is a Mac users dream. Everything is built in and proprietary. Wonderful right? HAHAHA
Article
The added touches of this "person" being 5-foot-3 and her husband six feet, and the "Lexus we rented once," was predicted by Philip K. Dick in his short story The Mold of Yancy. If you've read it, go read the Microsoft ad with an eye toward the similarity. It's creepy.
I think the most interesting point isn't that someone switched, but that this is a MICROSOFT writer that was using a Macintosh for 8 years. They just got her to convert.
"*Editor's Note: Now that we've successfully converted our writer to a Windows PC, we will be working on getting her to try a Pocket PC. Stay tuned for more developments!"
I think the better story would be "Bill forces last Mac user to switch!"
I am 31337 or something.
apple.com/switch
microsoft.com/switch
Hmmm.....
This post was generated by a Team of Elite Monkeys for br0ken2o0o (569914).
Not only is she a freelance writer, but she also models for stock photography - check it out. Or maybe they just threw in a stock image of a person...
I think you're missing the point. It's not the strategy that's amusing, it's the fact that it's such a poor effort. Microsoft doesn't offer one reason to use XP that doesn't also exist in Mac OS X. Microsoft Office? They have that for OS X. Multi-user? Yeah, OS X has that. Etc, etc.
it's like an ad from Iraq's tourism industry trying to lure beach-goers away from Florida:
Sun? We have that. Sand? We have lots of that too!
This is almost as silly as Microsoft hosting the "we have the way out" anti-unix site on freebsd. but i digress...
I don't have any formal training in marketing besides having watched maybe 10000 hours of TV :) In many categories the market leader does not mention the competition. For instance, you don't see commercials where MacDonalds even mentions Burger King or their other competitors. Nike and Budweiser do the same thing. Up until now Microsoft has only compared their newest OS to previous versions of Windows.
If I was an Apple user I would be encouraged by this bit of marketing. It implies that Microsoft is concerned about their image compared with Apple and is willing to violate this empirical rule.
Microsoft doesn't offer one reason to use XP that doesn't also exist in Mac OS X. Microsoft Office?
From the botom of the article:
Editor's Note: Now that we've successfully converted our writer to a Windows PC, we will be working on getting her to try a Pocket PC. Stay tuned for more developments!
I'm pretty sure that what's going on here is that Microsoft found a freelance writer to write glowingly about XP in exchange for free hardwaree and OS. Similar to the old tactic of giving aluminum siding to a family for free so the neighbors can see it in action. 10 bucks says she's on the MS payroll. Also, in response to the posters above who remarked that she is so much better looking than the women in the Mac ads: I'll bet the picture shown is not the writer of the article.
Could be totally wrong on both counts, but that's my impression
Evil is the money of root.
I'm the guy who submitted the story, and I'll be happy to answer your question. Apple did something that most people aren't aware of. They actively solicited, on their web site, write-in testimonials about switching from Windows to Mac OS X for almost a year before running the first "Switchers" ad. Also, Apple paid for the Switchers airfare and accommodations when they shot their TV spots, but they themselves received no money at all.
;-)
Finally, the TV spots are just a small part of the Switchers campaign. Check out apple.com/switch/stories sometime. You'll find dozens of emailed testimonials from real people identified only by their initials.
The answer to your question is yes. I believe the people featured in Apple's Switchers campaign are real. While I concede that it's possible that the whole thing campaign a big hoax, I think it would have been a lot harder for Apple to fabricate it than it would have been to simply find a couple dozen people who were willing to talk about their Macs on camera. The preponderance of evidence points to the conclusion that Apple is just letting people tell their own stories, while the preponderance of evidence is that Microsoft, in this case, isn't.
So to answer your last question: Apple is more honest.
Thanks for asking.
I write in my journal
Their clipart people you mean?
Check out Here
Whee
How did this get modded 'insightful'? Where's your proof that Apple paid anyone to lie, or that they're even lying? Apple solicited write-in testimonials on their website for customers to explain why they switched to Macs. Microsoft put up a story from some unnamed person. Looks like Apple is the more honest company here. So before you go spouting off about people lying, make sure you know what the fuck you're talking about.
do not read this line twice.
I know of a similar page you speak about. They compare linux servers to WindowsNT based OS's and provide bunch of examples which absolutely make no sense.
I have friends who are Microsoft zealots. They code in asp, use windowsXP and dismiss *nix as hobbyist's OS. I've had some pretty heated arguments with them on many different occasions, and they come up with the lamest excuses and examples why Windows based servers and IIS in particular are far more superior to *nix and apache based solutions. One notable point they try to make is that IIS is supported by a multi-billion dollar corporation and can be set up by pointing and clicking, as opposed to modifying
Don't get me wrong, I use Windows 2000 on 3 of my computers because frankly they get the job done on the desktop level. But when it comes to servers, Windows/IIS is a FisherPrice toy compared to BSD/apache. Believe me, I've tried to like IIS... It never clicked.
And it's funny on so many levels...
? x= x&a=AA046139&b=PDI&t=1
First, look at this
http://cache.gettyimages.com/thumb/AA046139.GIF
A stock photograph from Getty images, whe I used to work. Getty images is a chief rival of Corbis, which is owned my Bill Gates. This tell us many things, among them...
1. The 'Writer' is indeed a marketing fake.
2. They didn't even use an image from thier own collection.
no thanks, MS, I'm just fine thanks...
jason wiley
The article looks as though it was written by somebody who has never, ever, touched a MAC.
Frankly, I'd like to see a MAC formatted ZIP disk work instantly on a PC. I'd also like to see why the writer didn't compare Microsoft Office to Microsdoft Office v.X. I'll tell you why, v.X is in my opinion the best Office implementation at the moment. Also, why not compare IE 6 PC to IE on the MAC?
The whole thing is just laughable.
first they ignore you then they make fun of you then they fight you and then you win gandhi
Fleur de Sel
Okay, trained actors can sniff out trained actors. All my actor friends, even those that love Macs themselves, know without even a glimmer of a doubt, that most if not all of those "switchers" on the Mac commericials are fellow actors. Voice inflections, presence, all the little nuances that go into actor: they're all there. So, YES, they are actors. Perhaps they are acting out real testimonials, that can be debated, but they are actors.
I am a freelance writer; I demand the best in mobile computing.
As the IT support geek for an office of writers, this statement is a complete joke. Writers need a word processor they're not doing anything that requires loads of processing power. In fact, the best freelancers that we work with are using ancient machines (think 68040 or older Macs -- that's pre-PowerPC to the x86 crowd), and the best writer that we work with still sends in copy that has been typed (and the boss thought I was God Almighty when I came onboard and introduced her editorial assistant to a scanner and OCR). And while I'm being an old curmudgeon, how about those folks out there still using those old indestructible Tandy laptops that run on three "C" batteries? All writers need is a something that lets them bang keys. Case in point -- I just retired a PowerBook 150 with 4 MB of RAM, a 40 MB hard drive, and a grayscale screen and it ran WordPerfect 3.5 for Mac like a champ, which was all we needed it for. End of story.
-30-
Man, first Mac users, then I hear that Microsoft deploys newer technology too! Zowie!
Keeps Pace with New Technology
The open-source nature of Linux means that the company lacks a centralized strategy for keeping pace with emerging technologies and hardware. And that means Linux is typically much slower than Microsoft and Microsoft partners to consistently deliver the tools needed to stay current with new hardware requirements and new technologies.
I wondered in high school whether bullshitting could be a full time job. Perhaps I should work for Microsoft. Oh, just for fun type Unix or linux into Microsofts search engine to see what it comes up with.
Why, o why must the sky fall when I've learned to fly?
"too bad that Mozilla doesn't have close to the amount of success that IE does w/the web"
Well, we all know that the number of users using a tool is directly proportional to the quality of the tool, right?
---
"including speed of loading tables, program"
IE loads faster in a sense because it's integrated into the OS; the libraries are loaded when you boot your system. That can be seen as a good thing or a bad thing.
While I admit that Mozilla doesn't have the spunk at rendering as some other browsers do, you should try Phoenix.
---
"support"
For what? Bad HTML standards?
Name something Mozilla doesn't support that I'm going to miss on the web.
~Dalcius
Rome wasn't burnt in a day.
I cant imagine anyone here would be switching now considering how popular OSX is around here. BUT, in the past, have any of you ever switched from Mac to Windows? I personally have not. I can see situations where it would be much much better to use Windows. One case would be 3d animation. Most of the good software traditionally has run on windows and Irix. Please do not bring up Maya OSX, that is the exception, not the rule. Windows can run on many different hardware configs that are far more afordable. Has this been enough for anyone here to switch in the past?
http://creative.gettyimages.com/source/search/deta il.asp?source=searchResults&imageIndex=10&hdnSync= %22One+Woman+Only%3AOnly+Women%22+and+%22Coffee%3A Hot+Drink%22~0%2C12%2C449%2C3%2C15%2C1%2C0%2C0%2C0 %2C12287%2C0%2C1%2C0%2C0%2C0%2C0%2C0%2C0%2C0%2Cen- us%2C1%2C%22One+Woman+Only%3AOnly+Women%22+and+%22 Coffee%3AHot+Drink%22%2C389%2C257%2C1%2C&hdnCurrPa ge=4
What are the odds that they went to a Mac-using ad agency to get this done, and this is secret code to the smart people?
Hear, hear. They can have some pretty absolute opinions about other OS's though, without ever having used them, or even seen them.
I've been a pretty avid alternativist for the last two decades. I used to be (still am in some ways) an Amiga nut. I dived into BeOS when it was new. I was an early adopter of Linux, and have had one or two BSD machines.
My father (without actually bothering to look at any of the machines for 10s) would always say "Give it up! There is no alternative! Windows has won! No-one will ever use anything else!"
Well, the last time Pops came over, I showed him my new flat-panel iMac. I just did some basic demoing, like showing him the zooming dock at the bottom, window shadows, speach recognition, and of course the fish in the background (yes, any OpenGL screen saver can be run as a desktop background).
Response? We'll, he looked a bit shocked. Then he looked a bit flabbergasted. The he looked stunned for a while. Then he said "I want that in my computer".
At which point I explained "You can't have that in your computer. It's nigh impossible in Windows. But if you got a Mac..."
May be one more convert for the Gray Side.
I choose to remain celibate, like my father and his father before him.
I know what you mean. Although I am a PC boy myself, I have used my friends' Macintosh products and test driven some in stores. My next machine will likely be a notebook and a powerbook is definitely high on the list of possibilities.
The displays are so nice. And I want i(Tunes|Photo|Movie|Pod without the hassle). I want the space age ergonomics. Very few PC notebooks have keyboards as nice as the powerbook ones. (The toshiba tecra comes to mind.)
And to think, Microsoft has gone proactively anti-apple and here I am reciting why I want a mac because of it.
Yeah, I'm sure lots of Microsoft employees (or any self-respecting computer scientist, for that matter) read this site.
Oddly enough (and the dude in the middle is admittedly odd), the technology section in
today's Times would beg to differ with you.
"The writer that we hired; she works for us."
But it gets even more interesting. Maybe she is really a he (and perhaps not even a freelance writer at all), since it is "Don Funk" whose user folder appears to be used in the screenshot.
After they stopped laughing, our IT staff predicted that this page would be gone in 24 hours.
This is probably redundant because I didn't wade through 500+ responses, BUT:
I got the strangest feeling I was reading a Knowledge Base article when I looked at this page. The fact that "she" went into how to setup your ISP information step by step instead of saying, "... and setting up my email was as simple as falling down a flight of stairs..." decided it for me that this was a hoax.
I've read about M$ doing some sketchy stuff before, but this takes the taco.
--If you code for the exceptions, the rules fall into place
While those are indeed reasons to switch, they aren't quite compelling.
Freedom from DRM.
So far, there is no DRM in Mac OS, and untill there is, that isn't a reason to switch.
Freedom to use the OS however you want to. I want to use my OS to get my daily work done. There isn't much beyond that that the OS has to do. This isn't really a clear argument, can you be more specific?
Freedom to tweak and change, even at code-level.
I rarely have the desire to do this. Most programs work perfectly fine for me, and for those that dont, I get an alternative program. Even still, this argument is only compelling for a minority of computer users, I believe the original poster's intent was compelling reasons for other people to switch.
Freedom to install the OS on any machine you want to without asking "Mother May I?"
Not quite. I can install it on any machine I want to, assuming that the machine is compatable with the OS hardware support. The main issue of course being that there are still seperate distros of Linux (PPC, x86, SPARC). When will we see a distro with all the nessesary code in one package, and a universal install?
Freedom from bullshit licenses and other nightmares.
I'll give you that one. But again, the argument could still be made that for most intents and purposes, Apple provides the same freedom to it's users.
Freedom from the vast majority of viruses and exploits.
Seems to me that that's a better argument to switch to mac than to linux.
Like I said, they're all very good reasons, but none of them are compelling to most users.
T Money
World Domination with a plastic spoon since 1984
actually, my favorite part after her crowing about purchasing a laptop for $450 less, is that she then had to turn around and purchas winXP pro in order to have her laptop work properly with energy saving features.
lol.
yeah, we'll sell you this laptop for cheap, but battery life is gonna cost ya!
URL doesn't work anymore. Anyone have a mirror?
Gone, but not forgotten Wow, she's cool despite her name. She's got a memory stick and a dvd drive!
Gee, I wonder if Caroline Woodham, the model in the picture, knows she switched to XP or that she is now a Microsoft editor.
;)
Whether she does or not, it looks like Microsoft just pulled the page (or it got slashdotted). It seems they can no longer find it.
I guess Caroline Woodham (or her make believe twin) just got "fired". Or maybe her PC self destructed. Anyway, it has got to be one of the shortest Microsoft careers ever.
I feel sorry for the model in the picture, though. She signed a release that people could use the photo in general artwork, not that someone can make up stories about her personally. The price of a 72 dpi picture (assuming someone didn't just take it off their web site and cut off the top part with the light table and the company name) just doesn't cover something like that.
As for a company that feels it needs to hire fictional clip art switchers/editors, that's pretty sad. At least Apple uses (and hopefully pays) real people.
My favorite switchers tale is still the 1993 "Godzilla vs. MechaGodzilla II". Man, when he switches, he switches big time. Just look at all them Macs.
"His return is near..." Godzilla 2000 trailer
G Countdown: 15 days (www.godzillaoncube.com)
Unfortunately, I don't know how much the drives cost. However, I'm pretty sure that I'm under half that.
The plus side being that Windows has shitloads more stuff on it than Mac. I can run LW on a Mac, but I'd forfeit a TON of plugins I need that were compiled for Intel.
I saved a copy (screenshot) showing the take image, but you can still see some of the text: http://e4a.dk/linux/index.php?p=fun&id=26
You might want to read the article. It doesn't seem likely that it's a real story in any sense of the word ("real" or "story"). Massive chunks of it were obviously written by professional marketers, and much of the last few paragraphs appear to be the work of MS support personnel.
Advertisements may be obvious, but they can still have a kind of life to them. Judging from the responses (both positive and negative), the Apple "Switch" campaign seems to be pretty lively.
Even a cursory reading of the MS article shows that while they've downplayed the obviousness of the advertisement (and not very well, after all), they've also failed to imbue it with any sort of liveliness. It reads like a second-rate brochure for life insurance policies.
I've been told it's a lot like my posts.
Any sufficiently well-organized community is indistinguishable from Government.
*laughs* Yeek. Please call me a guy before you call me a MS Shill. =]
I don't think that my "higher ups" at Microsoft would look too kindly on the fact that I bash MS's security regularly, spend a significant amount of time in Linux, and generally think of MCSE as meaning Micky-mouse Certified Suckers, Etc. (Note I'm saying "generally", as in the majority, not as in all.)
My "kind views" of MS are only when I compare them to Apple.
Apple's selling the Mac-buying public a bridge, and virtual one at that. MS's claims, while quite often faulty and fabricated, at least have a bit more truth than the company that is trying to sell OS X as a finished product. I love the concept of OS X, but it is NOT a finished product. Apple is selling slower hardware at higher prices, running a version 1 operating system. Microsoft is selling an established OS that has more options than you can shake a stick at. Do I love them? No. But their sales literature doesn't smell quite as much like a red herring.
-Sara
Well, one does wonder... the advertiser may have been worried about whether the thing actually died in the saddle or not, but the original Microsoft page that this SlashDot story is about says (used to say):
...which to me looks like she'd probably have to uninstall XP to stop it from crashing.
So... if this is Microsoft's new, fantastic, reliable, easy-to-use replacement for OS/X, why did our anonymous but very pretty switcher have to spend time sysadminning her brand new toy? And why did Microsoft publish that point? They're basically confirming every Windows user's constant nightmare: that the system might suddenly and without obvious cause irretrievably screw itself.
When was the last time you had to remove and reinstall KMail to get it working?
Got time? Spend some of it coding or testing
At the bottom of the MS page is a link to submit your own story about how MS software has made your life complete. I'm going to send the story about Windows XP activation puking last week while I was writing my last paper for college graduation. I'd love to let MS know how I stayed up all night trying to reactivate, then installing Windows 2000, and reinstalling Windows XP (only to find out that hey, I can reactivate now that I've reinstalled).
And before any of your even think about saying "That's what you get for pirating," I'll have you know this was a legal copy. I didn't pay full retail for it, but that's the benefit of going to a school owned by Microsoft. XP is worth the $10 I paid for it, but not much more.
I actually switched from the Macintosh to Windows XP and I will not go back to Mac, I like the way I have a whole lot more Applications than on the Mac and I got tired of being a public beta tester. Mac OS X 10.2 did not fix any of the problems I had with the system, but with Windows it works fine and I dont have blue screens or any freezes. I also find the PC to be much faster than the Mac despite Apples claims.