Skip to main content

Microsoft Fires Up PR Campaign for Vista

Microsoft Fires Up PR Campaign for Vista

Microsoft knows that Vista has image problem. Having attempted to remedy it at its source with Service Pack 1 but failing to silence naysayers, the company has moved on to Plan B, a PR campaign.

The latest ad to surface on Microsoft’s home page depicts an old sea-faring ship beside the words, “At one point, everyone thought the Earth was flat.” The bottom compels the reader to “Get the facts about Windows Vista.” Microsoft’s message is clear: Try it before you knock it.

As ZDNet speculates, this will probably be the gist of the company’s forthcoming $300 million ad campaign designed to convince the public that Vista isn’t as bad as it’s cracked up to be. The page the ad linked to offers an admission of Vista’s early woes, along with some facts that paint a rosier picture of the present situation. “71% of Windows Vista customers liked it better than their last operating system,” it claims, along with the fact that people who have familiarized themselves with Vista are two to three times more likely to have a favorable impression.

While Microsoft has made no formal announcement concerning the ad, which so far has only appeared on its own Web page, we wouldn’t be surprised to see it turning up in all the usual places soon.

Editors' Recommendations

Nick Mokey
As Digital Trends’ Managing Editor, Nick Mokey oversees an editorial team delivering definitive reviews, enlightening…
Microsoft Surface Pro 9 vs. Surface Pro 8: here’s how they stack up
Microsoft Surface Pro 9 front view showing tablet and videoconferencing.

The Microsoft Surface Pro has spent years on our best laptops and best 2-in-1s lists. The Surface Pro 8, which represented the most significant revision to the tablet in years, maintained that spot.

Microsoft has introduced the Surface Pro 9, which retains the same basic design while updating the internals. Read on to find out if the newest Surface Pro is worth an upgrade.
Specs

Read more
Microsoft Teams may liven up meetings with casual game integration
Microsoft Teams in Together mode on a laptop.

Microsoft Teams could get a surprising new feature that might spice up your boring set of daily meetings -- though your supervisor may not like it.

According to The Verge, Microsoft is currently internally testing classic games like Solitaire and Wordament in Teams, for a special use in meetings and hybrid work scenarios.

Read more
This Microsoft app could help you spice up your desktop
Two windows laptops sit on a wooden table.

If you're looking to spice up your Windows desktop in a new way, then you might want to keep an eye out for an item that may be coming from Microsoft soon. Reportedly in the works is an app that can help you create animated backgrounds with custom effects for Xbox consoles, as well as Windows PCs.

First teased as an "unknown project" by the well-known Microsoft leaker Aggiornamenti Lumia a few months ago, it looks as though the leaker has finally managed to reveal what Microsoft was working on. Aggiornamenti Lumia now believes that the project is the Xbox Dynamic Backgrounds Editor app, showcasing it partly in action.

Read more