A comedian...
Because Windows Vista is a big joke.
Jeery Jerry loves Vista, y'know
Microsoft has called on American comedian Jerry Seinfeld to big up Vista in its next Windows ad campaign. The software giant is keeping quiet on the details, even though world+dog have nicely spun out the firm’s plans over the past 24 hours. According to the Wall Street Journal, Microsoft is spending $300m on the ad crusade to …
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Very Much a MAc Man
If you take a look at early Seinfeld Episodes you will see that there is always a Mac in Jerry's living room.
Who are they going to try and get next Drew Carey?????
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Seinfeld always featured Apple Macs rather than PCs during its nine year run.
The thing is....
...vista is a steaming pile of dog turd. Everyone knows it - Except the Americans. Good luck to them.
$300M
If they've got $300M to burn, couldn't they use it as a downpayment on their (as yet unpaid?) EU anti-trust fines? http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/02/27/ec_fines_microsoft_largest_ever/
Or they could fix Vista, but that would cost MS more than just a couple of weeks of cash flow.
Jerry IS a mac man
...or at least the show's set managers were as Jerry Seinfeld did have a Mac on the show. I figure a self titled/produced(??) show - 'Seinfeld' means Jerry is ultimately responsible for this but I don't have a clue if he exercised that much control.
Stuart
---Credit to NPR broadcasting (KERA Dallas) for broadcasting this nugget----
PS Why is it more a Windows vs Mac world over the good ole PC vs. Mac world??
-Ahah I know! - thanks to Mr.Reiser; Linux on a PC is as edgy cool as a Mac:-):-) -sympathies to Reiser's wife's family I condem his actions, but humour triumphs.
too little too late
Vista has been out for 2 years already. Most people who are going to switch have presumable done so already. Those who haven't either don't plan on it - they don't want to spend the money on an OS that doesn't do anything XP can't do already, they've switched to Linux or they've bought a Mac.
It will be interesting to see how powerful advertising really is and whether this campaign can really make a difference. Or whether it will hit a wall, er window, er...
Besides Seinfeld not having been funny since forever...
...you're right about him and the Mac.
If you should find yourself near a TV that's showing episodes from the first few seasons of "Seinfeld", pay attention during the scenes that take place in Jerry's apartment, in the living room; there, on the desk, making regular appearances, is a Mac SE (2nd-gen "toaster" Mac).
Still, he hasn't done a damn' thing since his sitcom went off the air*, so I suppose he probably could stand to pick up an extra mil or two.
*unlike Michael "Kramer" Richards
i'll say it again
i said it a long time ago, and i'll say it again, actually no i'll just copy and paste
"..2008-01-04..
Vista Opinion - if bill gates fixes this vista mess it will be the biggest most blatant evidence of brainwashing since 911"
Flustered Microsoft...
> El Reg yesterday requested comment from Microsoft PR wonks. A flustered spokeswoman simply said...
Spokespeople for Microshafted are *always* flustered... wouldn't you be, if you had to front up for a convicted predatory US monopolist that continues to turd-polish the pile of steaming ordure that is Vista??
BTW, has Microsoft paid any or all of its fines for anti-competitive practice to the EC, or are they are buying up radio spectrum to provide bandwidth for all of the monitoring radio ankle "tags" that its staff will eventually have to wear, as all well-dressed criminals sentenced to non-custodial punishments should?
$10m to say Vista's not crap
How much did Apple pay people to say Macs aren't crap?
Traitors
So does Jobs consider JS a traitor? http://www.geekculture.com/joyoftech/joyarchives/1142.html
Re:The thing is....
Or the people who use it on an adequate system.
Vista is fine.
It's funny how some 10 years after MS were accused of spreading baseless fear uncertainty and doubt about their competitors, now idiots world-wide are spreading FUD of their own about MS's first well-written software product, Vista.
Seriously, though, Vista is fine if you'd give it a freakin' chance... and I don't mean installing it, running it for 2 days and then deciding XP is superior because you couldn't find the damn "add-remove programs" control panel menu item.
I've been using it exclusively for a year after I got my laptop and I swear, for every damn complaint you folks have about Vista I have 3 with XP. The /only/ thing you like more is that you know what issues to expect with XP.
This ought to work out great.....
Seinfeld is so funny and Vista is so great that I'm buying a certified pre-owned Apple Powerbook G4 in a week. Guess what? It will run the latest Mac OSX (Leopard) without having to be a super computer on wheels. Not waiting around to see what Windows 7 will smell like. Moving on in a week. And you?
He's certainly thinking different now!
He used to be in Apple commercials but that is ancient history.
Maybe he will be funny this time?
TUX: because Linux is next for Jerry ...
It was more than just the early episodes
In later years, the SE was replaced by a 20th anniversary Mac
New Line for Cash'n'Carrion
MS shoes complete with Targets.
PS where the Vistas Crap T-Shirts?
@ Anonymous Coward
"...vista is a steaming pile of dog turd. Everyone knows it - Except the Americans. Good luck to them."
Agreed about the steam and the turd, but even we [Americans] can recognize crap when we actually get our hands on it. Well, at least most of us. In any case, when presented with the opportunity to run Vista at home I thought for a microsecond and kept my copy of XP Pro. My work computer still uses that OS and although over the past 2 years it has gradually bloated and slowed by about 60% as all Windoze installations eventually do, it is still better than a fresh install of Vista. I can't wait to see what they do this spring when we're all due for new kit. Hopefully it'll be XP again.
When the time came to replace the home box I decided to try a Mac. I'm no Fanboy, it's my first time on one but I figured it couldn't be worse than Vista and if it was better then I'm ahead of the game. So far so good, and I know what some of you are saying, and no I didn't consider Linux because with two young kids I didn't have time to fiddle with it.
So, all that to say that even over here we aren't all rushing to get our fresh pile... er, copy of Vista.
Vista is fine...
...so long as you scub it and install XP
And as for: "now idiots world-wide are spreading FUD of their own about MS's first well-written software product, Vista."
Well, theres plenty of evidence out there to support the fact that these people are far from being idiots, they just value their sanity & their hard earned cash.
@ Mike Fluggenock
"Still, he hasn't done a damn' thing since his sitcom went off the air*, so I suppose he probably could stand to pick up an extra mil or two."
Guess you haven't seen Bee Movie then!
You didn't missed much... :-D
Vista: A Classic Lesson
What happens when Lawyers tell you what the customer wants.
Vista for the uninformed
Vista has problems. You know it, I know it and MOST of the readers here know it. But does Joe Public know it? I frequently come across members of the Great Unwashed saying what a fantastic deal "PC RipOffWorld" are offering on such-and-such a laptop/desktop with Vista and they are going to buy/have bought one.
When I tell them that their shiny new laptop/desktop will work so much better if they "upgraded" it to XP, I am met with looks that resemble Santa's Little Helper (the pet dog in The Simpsons). Why should they take my word for it as opposed to a huge £million+ turnover chain like PC RipOffWorld?
After all they can always take it back and complain to the 18 year-old kids at the counter and rely on a Sale Of Goods Act repair while seasoned IT pros like me are too busy fixing the repairs done by the kids in between my day job looking after huge £million+ turnover systems with hundreds of users.
Do not underestimate the power of advertising especially when the cheques have "Microsoft" printed on them.
90% of computer users
Don't care what OS is on it!! They use OSX, vista or xp because it was installed on their pc when they bought it. If your first pc had windows on it, you are likely to replace it with a windows pc, unless something caused you problems. (xp was slightly different to this as it was such an improvement in stability over 95/98 that people actually did care.)
If your first pc was a mac, you are likely to replace it with a mac, again, unless you had serious problems.
If linux was installed on pc's when people bought them there would be a section of the 'normal' population using linux too.
The normal population doesn't even distinguish between XP & vista, its just windows, anything more than that and they couldn't care less.
@John Freas
"...I didn't consider Linux because with two young kids I didn't have time to fiddle with it."
I always find these sort of comments funny. The latest distro's are way easy to install and use. I personally use Mandriva Spring 2008, but have also played with SUSE and Ubuntu. People also complain about KDE being difficult to use and having too much choice, but if you do not want to change any of the default settings (which are good anyway) you don't need to. And you can always settle for Gnome if you want (although I do not like it one bit).
Granted - up until 2-3 years ago Linux was more difficult than Windows to use (but mostly because it involved you a bit more), but nowadays it *just works*. For the day-to-day stuff you just install from RPM's and go (in my case, but the other distro's are just as easy to use). And drivers are NOT an issue - all the hardware (apart from a winmodem that I had to install for my father-in-law) just works straight off the bat.
I have been involved with Windows since WFW (3.11) and also happen to be an MCSE (redundant now, as I did not upgrade), having supported Windows servers and desktops for more than 11 years, so I reckon I can speak with some authority on this issue.
And to be honest, changing from XP to Vista involves a MUCH steeper learning curve than moving to Linux from XP. I am still trying to get my head around the wife's Vista machine - supporting it is a nightmare and getting it running stable and working with other hardware (OEM notebook) was a battle (and it is still so sloooow).
So do yourself a favour and pick up a live CD (they are not hard to find and I am sure there are enough people who would be willing to burn you a copy) and play with it. You might just get a pleasant surprise.
And no - I am not a fanboi, but Microsoft's business practices and predatory behaviour put me off MS products completely, that is why I avoid it as far as I can (apart from the other issues like instability, insecurity, et cetera).
Hmmm
Jerry Seinfeld - ugh. Maybe now I'll find him funny - but I doubt it.
Microsoft's Vista was intentional..
Think about it!
How many licences of Vista has Microsoft sold to vendors and the public?
Compare that to how many actually keep Vista on their PC before "Upgrading" to XP or Linux?
Basically Microsoft is getting people to buy a product they know people will not use!
Marketing man's wet dream! :D:D
genius is say.. pure genius :)
@Eric Dennis
I love my PowerBook G4, but admittedly Leopard is going to be the last release that supports PPC. Hope you got a good deal on yours...
Ubuntu PPC runs well on it too...
Re: Vista for the uninformed
Agreed, the great unwashed are completely blinkered, possibly because the 15 year old 'x spurt' at PC RipOffWorld realises that Microsoft is good for sales where as common sense may involve awkward questions.
As for: 'When I tell them that their shiny new laptop/desktop will work so much better if they "upgraded" it to XP...'
Ive absolutely no idea why a teenage sales person in PC Rip Off World should command such font of all knowledge status after about 20 minutes sales training but they do, because Ive seen it on TV.
Anyway they all know far more than I ever will, so all I can suggest is to spit in your clients face instead, they will be much more receptive to your mild abuse than to moving away from their sacred Vista, until it all goes wrong.
Then you will have extreme difficulty hiding that smug grin along with the 'I told you so' following their call to PC Rip off Worlds 're-installation' line.
Did I hear [read] that right?
"now idiots world-wide are spreading FUD of their own about MS's first well-written software product, Vista."
I must not have woken up fully, but it looks like the quote above said that Vista is actually a well-written software product.
Besides that fact that Vista's default GUI is so overly bloated and useless, it's also much slower than XP. I dual-booted XP and Vista on my new (well, it was new at the time) PC with near-high-end hardware, and XP was at least 20% faster *just sitting still*. Never mind how much slower games were under Vista than XP, and since I built the machine for playing games, that sort of defeats the purpose.
Re: John Freas
"...vista is a steaming pile of dog turd"
Too right, Id prefer a dog turd to Vista,
My XPee PC has also run fine for many a year now & when it dies it will be replaced with a Mac.
90% of computer users
...don't want to change much from what they are currently using. Most people are used to Windows and don't want something different because then they'd have to learn a new system.
It's easy for techies to switch to Linux or whatever but most non-technical users just want something they know how to use. If you forced them to use a different system they'd learn it, but apart from that apathy is the ruling factor.
As long as Vista is fairly reliable, which it is so far as I know, they probably won't really care about the bloat and slowness.
Linux is way ahead
"...I didn't consider Linux because with two young kids I didn't have time to fiddle with it."
I don't have time to faff around installing Windows. But with the Ubuntu install, I can use a browser (or play Sudoku, or most other stuff) AT THE SAME TIME as installing the OS. How cool is that?
In five years time we won't be arguing about Vista vs Leopard vs Ubuntu. It'll all be about the browser.
The campaign is this:
The article says: The campaign will centre on a theme around the slogan of “Windows, not Walls”
and now, from an insider, the full ad:
"In a world without walls, who needs gates or windows?"
Seinfeld Seinfeld Seinfeld
He still gets about, I saw him doing standup at Ceasars Palace just a few weeks ago.
Otherwise I think he just spends his time buying Porsches using the $100 million or so he made selling his series on DVD.
Seinfeld
"Still, he hasn't done a damn' thing since his sitcom went off the air*, so I suppose he probably could stand to pick up an extra mil or two."
Actually he's been doing stand up tours, probably for mind bending amounts of money. Not doing anything on TV is not the same as not doing anything.
advice from a comedian on O/S choice ?
What the hell qualifies a comedian to offer advice on choice of O/S ? What about that nice, calm Mr Ballmer...? Oh wait.....
I can see it now
Jerry on a stage, with a single spotlight.
Jerry asks, "Whats the deal with people not switching to Vista?"
Jerry pauses then continues, "I mean with a name like Vista it has to be good......."
About this point I change the channel.
Re: Kobus Botes
Well done on missing the point Kobus. The guy said he had kids. You are a (former) MCSE. In what way do you NOT get the difference between those two things?
It's incredibly easy to take a PC or Mac and lock them down so that the damn kids don't kill it with the usual "curiosity".
Yes, if you have a few weeks to search around and play you can probably do something similar with Linux but....
"What do you mean Linux was too tricky for your children? I'm an MCSE with 20+ years computer experience and I found the switch quite easy" really isn't a point worth making!
Children use Ubuntu
My children (5, 7 and 9) use Ubuntu. It means they can browse the Internet without too much danger of catching malware. There are no user interface issues for them at all. And as a dedicated XP user I was surprised at how easy it was to get Ubuntu started on an old Dell laptop with a wireless connection.
We're going to try a Mac because we need one for website compatibility testing, but whenever I dabble I get frustrated - too unintuitive, or maybe too clever by half (the finder is really really annoying) and they are way overpriced.
Miss
As a dad with two kids of my own, I took it that John Freas wanted to be able to spend time with his kids, rather than slaving over a hot Linux stove/system. Really though, Linux is much more rewarding and easy to get into now than it ever was. Just ignore the fundamentalist Gentooists and go for Ubuntu or Mandriva and you'll generally not go far wrong.
Paris, because I've already likened Vista to her on the FT today...
I can see the new APPLE ads already....
PC: Hey Mac, I just got a new friend, Jerry Seinfeld. :)
Mac: That's wonderful, I know some of your old friends got angry about the Vista thing, and they're hanging out with Ubuntu and Fedora and Mandriva and me instead :(
PC: Yeah, it's great -- he used to be YOUR friend, but I gave him $10 million and now he's MY friend instead.
- - pregnant pause - -
PC: Um, Mac?
Mac: Yes?
PC: How much do you have to pay people to become friends with you?
Americans? We're not the only ones...
What about the Brits upgrading the sub's missile launchers to XP?
Quite frankly, I'm running Vista on this computer (Ultimate) and it stinks.
It's fast enough, but Media Center crashes to the point of unusability,
DRM slows the entire computer to a snail's pace when copying data from a Passport HDD....
I liked it the first few days, but now I'm switching back to Ubuntu,
which is EASIER to use than XP if your hardware is supported.
I understand people who aren't geeks, having trouble switching to Ubuntu...
but when geeks act like XP is the holy grail, I could vomit.
@James Bassett
James
My bad (I tend to be verbose when writing). ;-)
The point(s) I wanted to make were the following:
1). Linux is *not* that difficult to use or install. I initially struggled way back when precisely *because* I was a Windows techie. It took me a while to discover that the reason for that was because I wanted to make things more complicated than necessary. And frankly, those people who complain that they have to edit various config files in order to just get Linux running must be either using very old distro's, or else Debian or Slackware (I think, but have no experience of these two).
2). As an (ex) Windows techie I struggled MORE to make the switch to Vista than to Linux. I can see no reason whatsoever why a non-techie should struggle with using Linux (apart from wanting to install arcane software or running into tarballs, but they would have the same problem with installing similar software or hardware on Windows.
If I may add something here: when I recently upgraded my father-in-law to Mandriva from Windows 98 he took to it like a duck to water. The only trouble he had was with typing letters like ë, ö, ê, et cetera, and that was because I neglected to show him how to do it. (pressing ´-e is a lot easier than trying to remember arcane commands like Alt-139 (or whatever) to get an é, for instance). Granted, native English speakers are not exposed to this problem, but I could give any number of other examples as well, but let's rather stop here, else it will become too long again!).
You lost me with your comment regarding the ease with which to lock down a PC or Mac - there is no need for such measures with Linux in any case, since you have to be root to cause damage.
The only advantage that Windows have over Linux (as far as I am concerned) is with games - if you want to play the latest and greatest you are forced to use Windows, unfortunately.
Cheers
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