umm actually it means uhhh... let me think. Wait, that would let the world know but I guess its ok... I am a very Pathetic Computer (operating system).

Poor Advertising. What can MS do though. They produce a shoddy product. These may be better than the truth. Wouldn't prompt me to stay on the PC boat.

What's the point in the end PCs outsell Macs 10:1, was MS ever really in the position that they could lose that lead...

But they don't make me want to get a windows box.

-- and I don't want a PC that smells like that.
In fact, I think they try to make fun of themselves. This ad shows the perceived Microsoft sense of humour. There's a difference between being humorous and being hilarious still.

I'm confused. I thought Microsoft's advertising campaign was supposed to get Vista out there, or make people feel positive about Microsoft again. Instead, all we've seen were two commercials that didn't make any sense, and now a series that shows what we already know; there are a lot of people with PC's/Windows-computers out there. I fail to see the point.

Other than that, I think its sad that Microsoft now needs to copy a part of Apple's ads and completely miss the point of what makes those ads funny/interesting. While I like some of the advertisements on websites and magazines with the whole "no walls" concept, I'm afraid this is a complete fail for Microsoft.

The ad agency behind "Windows. Life Without Walls" is Crispin Porter Bogusky. Their principal tactic in a number of recent ad campaigns has been the notion of perception reversing.
[...]
Therein lies Microsoft's problem. Perception reversing by appropriating your enemy's words can work only if your insurgency has an identifiable goal. Witness Apple which effectively used its insurgent status to barge into the consumer desktop, digital music and cellphone businesses and changed them in alignment with users' shared aspirations.

Microsoft, one of the most lucrative monopolies ever, however, is no insurgent. Its enemy is smaller, cooler, better liked, more nimble, more creative and more aligned with users. So Microsoft has to not only show "it's OK to use Windows" but tell us why it's better and show us a goal that we can all identify with that the enemy cannot provide.

Microsoft "I'm a PC" ads are channeling Apple's "Crazy Ones"
http://counternotions.com/2008/09/19/crazy-ones/

"I'm a PC... and I'm kinda scared"

"i can see that the ads are for people to see that PCs (=microsoft's) are pretty much us all, a billion of us."

Don't be fooled by Windows sales numbers... most of those copies are sold as volume licenses to businesses. At the bottom line it may not make much of a difference, however from a consumer point of view it is in fact a huge difference, which is why Microsoft is spending $300 million on this campaign. Apple has always targeted users directly and effectively. A majority of their user base is in fact individuals, not huge corporations.

Which leads to the question... who exactly is Microsoft aiming these ads at? Most people are already forced to use Windows at work. Do they think a commercial is going to make all those people overlook any problems they might have at work and possibly persuade them to buy a Windows PC for home?


"To be honest i love some of apple's products but i feel tho Apple has made us so pretentious."

You are who you are. It comes down to being labeled and pigeon-holed. The media in general (and everyone else) love to call Mac users; fanboys, elitists, pretentious, etc... It's a ll a bit ridiculous as far as I'm concerned. I've been a Mac user since the mid-80's. I've had to put up with; toy, fruit-box, idiot-box, etc... It's those PC/Windows users that have backed us into a corner and labeled us pretentious, when in fact they were/are the ones that are actually being self-righteous and spiteful.

So I guess the point is that they are everywhere and because they are so many of them using PCs they have to be better?

This is looks like the 2008 version of the Lemming's commercial from the PC perspective...

Just get in line folks, we are PCs...

This is going to backfire...

"i can see that the ads are for people to see that PCs (=microsoft's) are pretty much us all, a billion of us."

i think it's true... doesn't really matter whether its the businesess or personal users that they are targeting.. the fact remains that majority of people use microsoft's OS.. whether which 1 is better that's another topic.

as to the manipulation of perception or whatever... well isn't that one of the basis of marketing anyway...

and another thing, to say that you are who you are, why is it that the whole thing about mac-loving or windows-loving seem to be so restricting.. i mean seems like if you like 1 apple product then you must love their other products.. like the guy who wrote the quote above, i mean it seems fair that he likes some apple products and still likes microsoft product.

btw, i quite like the new microsoft ads tho not as much as i like the mac ads but both work well i think... and to be frank, you guys should stop the microsoft bashing as you guys wouldnt like it when someone bashes linux or macs.. i mean in the end its all about business and competition.. who knows one day mac would be the one to dominate the market and get bashed for being the big gun..

stop the microsoft bashing?
bashing works. look at right wing media. if i only had a nickel for every time i've heard the term "they hate america". don't agree with them? you hate america. they have polarized this country.
the problem with that is people will only stand for it for so long. eventually fox news and all the limbaugh's and hannity's will themselves get attacked. voices will be heard (jon stewart, keith olbermann).

same with mac users. how many years did they put up with the ridicule? mac's are toys, mac users are idiots. people who don't know how to use computers use macs. a$$holes like dvorak used this to their advantage. anytime a mac user responded to any article the backlash was loud and long. zealots, fan boys... they reveled in stereotyping them. lance ulanoff recently called iphone users isheep. think if it was a ms product he would have done that?
millions and millions and millions of mac users and a dozen of them respond to an article and we're all stereotyped.

i think i'll continue ms bashing for awhile.

let's face it most people are sheep.

We may not like it, but most people are happy being sheep. This is why PCs hold the dominant market position - we all know if people made an informed decision by themselves like us then they wouldn't.

These ads may not work on us (sorry if that was pretentious of me), but it will work on the sheep...

I am a PC but I am not stupid so I do not use Microsoft Windows. :-D LOL

Linux rules and I truly have not walls, unlike M$$$ Windows. What are they afraid?

If they want to talk, talk about Operating Systems not Machines. But then... M$ lose bad!

so basically the spot is saying, 'hey stop making fun of PC users, they are not that nerdy guy John Hodgman plays in the Apple ads'. I guess MS is trying to exploit that Mac-users-are-elitists image which Apple has, in the past, been guilty of promoting. (Nobody likes to be talked down to, even if they deserve to be)

Truth is, Windows users generally envy Mac users and they can't admit it. When was the last time you saw a Windows sticker on someone's car? I have had an Apple sticker on my car for 10 years (old-school rainbow logo!) and I see them regularly now. I love my Macs. How many people can say the same about their Windows box???

Like I commented earlier in the thread, this spot seems aimed at dissuading people from switching to a Mac by making them feel OK with being on a PC. That might work until the next time they get a BSOD or virus, then they'll be saying, "I'm fucked!" instead of "I'm a PC!"

You can only bullshit people for so long. Start making a better operating system, Microsoft, and you might stop losing customers to Apple.

For a response, I think it was pretty good. Of course, I'm a Mac, so it doesn't matter to me. And I really like that M$ is acknowledging the Mac ads.

Every single one of those "PC"s could just as easily have been a Mac, I know NASA relies heavily on Macs because I work with the father of an IT administrator at NASA. And the father also is the furthest thing from a "Mac Elitest" you could get, he has won Tukey Call contests, he's a hunter living and the woods of Indiana and enjoys participating in Civil War Reenactments. He loves his Mac too.

Most people (not the ones that read sites like this one) don't know what an operating system is. They buy a computer and someone tells them it is a PC. Okay a lot of people us PC's in the world as well as in this ad, now what? The PC guy is too briefly introduced at the beginning of the ad so that it appears to be from the end of another ad, it feels disjointed. Balmer must love flushing 300 millions down the toilet.

you know it isn't an original idea - yet again they have copied something from somebody else and yet again they just didn't get it - little bit like their OS it just doesn't work, hey but 5/10 for trying guys,

I can't wait for Apple's next ad - PC guy will be kinda dressed like Mac guy but it will look just a little bit wrong - Mac guy will say Hey PC what's with the new look - and PC Guy will say well you know we always copy you Mac, have I got it right....

Yawnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn

you know it isn't an original idea - yet again they have copied something from somebody else and yet again they just didn't get it - little bit like their OS it just doesn't work, hey but 5/10 for trying guys,

I can't wait for Apple's next ad - PC guy will be kinda dressed like Mac guy but it will look just a little bit wrong - Mac guy will say Hey PC what's with the new look - and PC Guy will say well you know we always copy you Mac, have I got it right....

The ultimate irony is that as Microsoft copied the Apple spots, it also missed the most salient part: The characters in the Apple commercials are spokespersons for the computers themselves and the operating systems they run, they are not speaking as USERS or claiming at any point to represent users. It's a simple fantasy, if computers could talk, what would they say? Sadly, the singular lack of imagination at Redmond clearly failed to pick up on this and has responded like a schoolyard bully with: "Are you talking about me????"

This ad does break the "PCs are for beige number crunchers" stereotype quite effectively. I actually laughed at the beard guy and the shark diver. A much more appealing ad than either Seinfeld ad.

Even as a ardent Apple fan i still thought this cmmercial was really good. And MUCH better than its Seinfeld/Gates pre-cursor.

At least Microsoft have shown that they can learn from their mistakes.

MS always use to ignore Apple ads because they represent such a small market share. Why take a shot at a minor player? Looks like Microsoft doesn't consider Apple to be insignificant anymore.

Who's their ad agency? Can 'em and get the guys that made the old Rainier beer commercials.

The first time it came on last night my cable was being crappy and glitchy (not uncommon, thanks Comcast)and it made the commercial especially amusing with funny colored video artifacts all over the screen and audio dropping out all over the place.

Yep. You're all PCs. That's pretty obvious.

Why are all these people 'Pissy'?

Why are all these people 'Pissy'?

These are just a less attractive version of the Lotus R5 "I AM" ads, several years ago. Remember those? They showed a bunch of "everyday geek" types standing around holding up hand-lettered "I AM" signs, ending with "I am superman".

Didn't convince many people to switch from Microsoft Outlook and Exchange, or even to stick with Lotus Notes and Domino.

Best windows ad yet, like it or not.

...these ads are making MS look like they're apologizing for being S***** for so long, but they don't say what they intend to do about it; except that they put bill out to pasture and he seems to think the whole thing is funny.

EPIC FAIL.

So let's see: Microsoft is anti-Open-Source and champions proprietary software. Windows versus Walls therefore means that MS wants to own everything to do with computers. The only thing restricting that is the Law and competition. MS has given ample evidence that it respects neither and now at last has turned this desire for a complete monopoly into a slogan.

Windows versus Walls = Windows wants a complete monopoly, No? Or am I missing something?

Windows Without Firewalls.....yep I REALLY want one of those!!!

Classic.

The beginning of their commercials remind me of the Get a Mac ad about Mac and PC making a home movie: Mac makes a nice looking home movie and PC makes a very ugly one ("Yo, PC home movie"). These commercials reminds me of bad/ugly clones (of Apple ads, of John Hodgman)...

Uncreative and boring just like everything else that M$ makes.

EPIC FAIL

Make me want to run out and buy a Mac! Geeez MS is terrible!

I can see the army of Apple Lawyers ready to pounce on this because the beginning is too much like Apple's own commercials.

I think the new ad campaign misses the mark by a mile.

Apple is a hardware company first and a software company second. Microsoft is only a software company. MS makes most of their money on an OS and an office suite. Apple makes most of their money on hardware; computers, iPods, iPhones, etc.

The latest MS ad seems to be trying to sell PC's which MS doesn't make. The never mentioned Vista once. The big problem is that the ad is a clone of the now famous Apple "Get a Mac" campaign and just makes people immediately think of Apple when they view it, Not what you want to do with your ad money as it only points out your products shortfalls and with Vista there are a few.

Copying Apple is one thing MS seems to excel at but this ad just reinforces the Apple brand in people's mind when they see it. Every adman or creative brand agency knows that you don't mention or bring to mind a competitor in your ads unless you want to invite a comparison. Right now, the comparison between Vista and Leopard is not something MS really wants to put forward.

Apple's segment is not where MS will make any market share gains. I believe the only reason they would be spending 300 mil on this type of ad is that they passionately hate Apple's "Get a Mac" campaign. Bill clearly takes it personally, and therefore feels the need to respond. I know that Bill Gates got PO'd during an AdAge interview recently when it was suggested that John Hodgman was really portraying him in the ads so he apparently does take it very personally. http://adage.com/article?article_id=115481

MS needs to consider firing their creative, as this campaign clearly got off to a bad start and is simply way off base. Not only is the campaign ineffective, it displays Bill Gates as a dullard. Gates, with Seinfelds help in the first two segments of the campaign, actually out-dopes Hodgman.

MS needs originality and a theme that doesn't make people compare them to Apple, or anyone else for that matter.