Are the Windows Ads Working?

The ads featuring the shoppers for a laptop (always a laptop) where Microsoft picks up the bill for the shopping spree… hmm, I wonder what choice will be presented.

If anyone did decide on a Mac, that film would be on the cutting room floor in a snip of the scissors.

Over at ZDNet, Christopher Dawson seems to be getting bludgeoned over changing his opinion about Windows. (Obviously a part of the Microsoft-ZDNet joint re-education task force was at work here.) Now Mr. Dawson states that he and those he knows are all excited about the upcoming release of Windows 7.

My users want Windows. Where three months ago users were enthusiastic about Mac and some were excited about (or at least open to) Linux implementations in the coming years, now users are asking about Windows 7 on the new purchases we have coming up.

I don’t care about the Macs. Whatever. We have a Mac base in many of our schools that is serving us well and that we have on lease for another three years. I see no need to buy any more unless Apple drastically changes their strategies over the next few years. However, I was hopefully about Linux in more settings. The anti-Vista sentiment remains high among many of my current Vista users and XP users are certainly feeling like their machines are growing long-in-the-tooth, opening an opportunity for Linux.

Then Microsoft started their new ad campaign and it certainly seems to be a heck of a lot more successful than the short-lived Jerry Seinfeld debacle. I’ll be honest: I actually like the commercials. They play on my gadget lust and make me want to go buy a new PC. Of course, I’d probably install Ubuntu PDQ, but I would have already purchased a PC.

The ads seem to have killed any interest in Linux and, except among Mac devotees (and quite a few still exist in education), in new Macs. It sounds as though the rival Linux ads won’t exactly be cranking out the converts either.

So why do I care? Computers are computers, right? We all live in a browser anyway. Because I think that there are some really mature Linux operating systems that provide everything we need (and far more) in Ed Tech in easy-to-use, safe, secure, and free packages. I think there are huge libraries of applications in the OpenSUSE Edu-CD, Edubuntu, and beyond that people are missing because “it’s not Windows.”

I’m not going to force feed Linux on any of my users. I will find ways to save money with Linux in the server room, resurrect old computers whenever possible, and use Linux on public Internet kiosks. I will keep exploring Edubuntu/Kiwi/LTSP for a better, cheaper solution to thin client deployments. I’ll do my darndest to make sure that the students in our district understand that an OS is not synonymous with Windows (or even OS X), but rather that an operating system is a tool. My personal computers will continue to run some flavor of *nix.

However, I think that the growing enthusiasm around Windows 7 is fairly infectious. Will it be as big a flop as Vista? I doubt it. People are going to have to see and feel Windows 7 side by side with Ubuntu (or some other friendly distro) and then decide for themselves which they prefer. I’m more than happy to give them that opportunity and will be organizing events around such a “taste test.” For now, though, the Microsoft ad campaign is working.

Is this some sort of Jekyll and Hyde experiment? Will the real Mr. Dawson please return.

Such an amazing turnaround can only be part of the ratcheting up of the Microsoft pay-to-play machine at ZDNet. All the writers who concern themselves with software are affected. Soon it just might ooze to the ones who work in other areas, such as stories popping up about how green Windows 7 will be.

Is all of this only sarcasm on my part? No, only partially, because there definitely is a very pro Microsoft stance being assembled, and though it may not be quite as deliberate as I imply, it certainly is something to watch and not take for granted.

The people in Redmond are working hard to make sure that Windows 7 is not the failure that Vista is, and in ways that many are only beginning to see. A few little ads about some harmless shopping sprees is just a small part of the push.

§

•