Microsoft's Mojave Experiment : the rescue of Vista

This is no longer a secret to anyone: Windows Vista suffers from a certain unpopularity. In accusing the software or hardware incompatibilities, many users have confessed to a reluctance to leave Windows XP. Yet, according to Microsoft's reputation around Vista is not justified and to show its efforts, the Redmond company publicly display details of peripherals and software compatible with its latest system. Then, the company faces competitive marketing, and in this case, Apple commercials, which benefits greatly from the situation to highlight the qualities of Mac OS X. Breaking the tarnished image of Vista, this is the motto of Microsoft. And in this area, all shots are allowed.

David Webster, Director of marketing strategies at Microsoft, working on the issue and suggested this strange idea email to his superiors: presenting to a group of users sceptical about the performance of Vista a disguised version of the operating system into thinking it is a new project currently under development. The code name of this operation: Windows Mojave. The project is immediately adopted and, in parallel, Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft, annonce launching an advertising campaign in the amount of $ 300 million (approximately 191 million euros).




For three days, the team in charge of the project surveyed the streets of San Francisco to identify those users reluctant to the idea of installing Windows Vista. Altogether 140 people were invited to a demonstration of Windows Mojave. In this group, 84% used Windows XP, 22% were on the Mac OS and 1% on a distribution of Linux. The scene was filmed by 22 hidden cameras. The computer used for the presentation is a portable mid-range: the HP Pavilion DV2000 running a Core 2 Duo T5250 clocked at 1.5 GHz and equipped with 2GB of RAM.

This small staging a permit Microsoft to prepare a study of return users. According to the company, 94% of participants found the so-called new Windows Vista more attractive. The operating system is therefore really a victim of prejudice? Anyway, the average score attributed to Vista by these users was 4.4 / 10 before the demonstration. Then, once the nature of Windows Mojave revealed the average given by this group of participants trapped rose to 8.5 / 10. Satisfied with this campaign, Microsoft to put online these videos as a foot of the nose commercials Apple.

But it is enough to convince all the sceptics and re-sales before the release of Windows Seven? Not sure because, ironically, Steve Ballmer himself is not so sure about the quality of its product. At the annual MVP Summit in Seattle last April, he explained:

"Windows Vista is a work in progress. A very important work and I think we did good things, and I think we must learn from it. It is clear that more must wait five years between operating systems [...] Vista is heavier than XP. It will always be heavier than XP. We must make sure it does not become heavier and verify the performance, the lifespan of a cycle of battery and compatibility."