“The Mojave Experiment” – Fact or Fiction?

WARNING: HIGHLY OPINIONATED RANT FOLLOWS! PLEASE USE EXTREME CAUTION WHEN READING!

I just saw this thing on TV the other day about the “Mojave Experiment.” (website) Basically Microsoft took a bunch of people who knew almost nothing about Vista and showed them a bunch of demos of “Windows Mojave.” Of course, Mojave was really Vista. So what were the results? Most people liked Mojave when they hated Vista.

So what’s the truth? Was this a valid experiment? Are people really that prejudiced against Vista?

Well, here’s my analysis:

1. Microsoft likely mostly picked people who really didn’t know much about Vista. At least those are the ones who mostly get shown on the videos.
2. Most users (again, at least the ones shown) hadn’t actually used Vista, even casually (as can probably be deduced from #1) so they had nothing to really compare “Mojave” to.
3. The ones doing the experiment “showed off” most of the “ooh, ahh” features like Media Center, Flip3d, desktop search, and gadgets. (experienced Mac users note these all appeared in OSX long before “Mojave”…) They really didn’t get into the actual robustness, security (besides mentioning the “60%” improvement over XP – which still leaves hundreds of thousands of viruses in that “40%”, but conveniently failed to mention that last fact) or speed of the OS. They just showed the “best,” most “showy” aspects.
4. They didn’t actually let the users USE the machines before giving their verdict. It’s one thing when a professional is showing you all the things a system can do, but then try doing it yourself. I myself can make Vista work nearly as well as OSX for most things, but it takes far more effort. The average user can’t do what the MS guys did in this “experiment,” but most people can on a Mac. The difference is apparent when you use the systems.

Personally I think this campaign will unfortunately be successful. Most people will think “Ooh, look at how people really liked it when they didn’t know what it is. All the hostility must be all hype.” There is one ray of hope, though. When you visit the website, the HORRIBLE video navigation system is likely to scare most people away!