Apparently, thinking Windows Vista is a crappy OS is equivalent to thinking the Earth is flat. Mmm. The above image is a teaser of Microsoft’s upcoming $300 million Vista ad campaign, and we’re not quite sure $300 million is going to be enough to accomplish what Microsoft has set out to accomplish. This is an anti-smear campaign in its truest sense. Vista has been nothing short of a whipping boy for the blogosphere since its trouble-riddled release a year and a half ago. All the cool kids hate Vista. Of course it’s difficult to argue that the general dislike is unfounded but Microsoft is about to do its best to repair Vista’s image. From one of the new Vista anti-smear pages on Microsoft’s site:
When Windows Vista debuted in January 2007, we declared it the best operating system we had ever made. “Windows Vista is beautiful,” The New York Times raved. It’s humbling that millions of you agree.
But we know a few of you were disappointed by your early encounter. 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…
We know that’s what some people are saying on the Internet. And in its early days, Windows Vista did experience some compatibility problems. But thanks to our industry partners’ efforts during the past 18 months, here’s where things stand today.
Well Microsoft, you’ve got your work cut out for you. As XP’s run comes to an end, now is probably one of the most important times in Microsoft’s long history. Big Billy is gone, the second coming of Mac computers has arrived and Linux is gaining more ground each day. It should be an interesting couple of years ahead of us.
