"cute, realistic, and appeal to consumers"

For real? I thought we'd already established MS payed an actress to appear in at least one of them. Also, they've been picked apart by people in the ad industry as well. Thirdly, I've been a PC person since text-based D&D adventures and even *I* find the ads unappealing as well as mildly embarassing.

@ceriphim: Okay I know it's uncouth to reply to yourself, but here's the link I was referring to: [technologyexpert.blogspot.com]

My husband has a Mac for doing graphic design stuff, but when he's not doing that for school/work he has his Mac boot into Windows, since there are SO many games that won't run on a Mac.

I refuse to touch the thing, myself, I'm a die-hard PC girl. I find Mac laptops to be overpriced (even at $100 off), too small, and too trendy for my tastes.

In an ironic twist, my MP3 player of choice is an 80g video iPod - while my husband's is a 4gb Xune (I know that's the wrong starting letter, but that key is broken on my keyboard lol)

@ceriphim: I didn't say they were documentaries. :)

I am an IT guy, and I like the ads. It's about time they did something to strike back against the PC/Mac ads that Apple has. I don't feel bad for Apple at all.

I like how microsoft is basically hiding their OS and saying that the only thing matters to consumers is the hardware.

@ceriphim: You may find them embarrassing, but they're not targeted at you. They're targeted at the demographic that for some reason would be swayed by the pretentious mac ads... the inexperienced consumer.

And for that they do just as good a job.

I will never, ever go back to a PC. Ever.

Apple girl for. life.

@post_break: Yeah, especially the "couple" with the baby who's deciding factor is that it has "picture sharing."

Seriously?

Actually I believe the reason Apple is pissed is not only where they paying the people to appear in the ads, but even BEFORE the price drops they where basically blatantly lying in the laptops they where comparing to the macs.

People actually looked up the "PC" laptops they bought stats, and none of them came close to what they either claimed in the commercials, or to the Macs they where comparing them to.

@post_break: Exactly! I wasn't aware that MS made laptops. At least Apple has hardware and software to sell and work together very well as a complete package.

I must admit that Apple's response is giving the commercials more cred than they would have gotten otherwise. They should have kept quiet and kept on selling their wares and making great commercials.

@gqcarrick: I feel bad for apple, if they really tried to put a stop to them. I hope this turns out to be a fabrication by microsoft, but I think if it were, the internetz would have already debunked the story by now.

But c'mon, as a consumer I think those microsoft you find it, you keep it ads are misleading as all hell. They take ignorant people who don't know anything about computers that have no basis to really know what they're doing, and then they go to a big box store and get suckered into buying a P.O.S. computer.

And this is coming from someone who's been complaining for years and years that Apple charges too much for their stuff.

@ceriphim:
the same people who think a mac is better just because its different are the same people who will be swayed by stuff like this. I still don't get the mac appeal on basic level and with increasing malicious content hitting macs, is it really the true alternative now ? Seems like if you're not using it for graphic design, you're just overpaying for something PC's do the same and cheaper.

my friend swears one of the "macs" they try in the commercials is an ibook (aka a 6 year old mac laptop) we're still trying to confirm and if we can we're submitting all the info we have to apple.

@jaya9581:
The ipod would reign supreme if it wasn't for the tedious itunes, but yea I agree with you, Mac is still way too restricting with software (ie games) making it appeal to three types of people 1. the one who truly prefers the system, is knowledgeable and usually has some media uses for it 2. the trendy follow 3. the uninformed, 2 + 3 could be one and the same.

@ceriphim: Picked apart?

Actors or not, the point of the commercial is true. They had one where someone was going to use 1000 dollars to buy a laptop. The cheapest laptop apple has is 999(after their price drop) and in any state with taxes you can't buy a 999 dollar laptop with 1000 dollars.

Plus they are now running one that has the person get a laptop for under 700. Apple does not sell laptops that cheap.

Do you maybe have a link to people picking apart these ads? I fail to see how anyone with common sense and an internet connection would be claiming to pick apart these ads. It would make them look dumb.

Here is cheapest mac [www.bestbuy.com]

Here is comparable pc [www.bestbuy.com]

Mac loses by 350 bucks and that is without getting a sale price on a windows laptop. That makes a macbook +50% more in price than a pc laptop.

@post_break: How are they doing that? Keep in mind most people have PCs and all their apps and games run on PCs. If micrsoft wanted to be cruel they could easily make a few commercials that outline all the stuff a mac won't run.

@jstonemo:
oh you mean the borderline slanderous "Im a mac" commercials? What hardware does Apple make ? ATI or NVidia cards ? Intel processors ? Lol...cmon now, we all know vista is a disaster of an OS for the inexperienced but the Mac OS is not significantly better.

Macs have never appealed to me, they don't seem very utilitarian, and leave very little wiggle room for upgrades and tinkering, much like i've done since my first IBM 286DX.

I can't even bring myself to buy an ipod. I like my little creative zen xfi, Archos 605, and Cowon media players.

I say good on Micro$oft for fighting back, it may be a towering goliath of evil, but it's the one i'll back.

@stevejust: "They take ignorant people who don't know anything about computers that have no basis to really know what they're doing, and then they go to a big box store and get suckered into buying a P.O.S. computer."

How is that any better than taking ignorant people, who don't know anything about computers that have no basis to really know what they are doing, and selling them on the fact that a product (which really amounts to OS X, which will only run on Macs) is made for ignorant people who don't know anything about computers at twice the price?

And to nip it in the bud, since OS X will only run on hardware that is AT BEST 1.5x the price of PC hardware, you basically need to add a minimum of $350 to the price of OS X in every calculation, making Windows Ultimate a cheaper option than OS X.

@jaya9581: Start > Run... "osk.exe"

You can use that to type "Z".

@anduin: "vista is a disaster of an OS for the inexperienced"

How. The thing works fine now. It sucked really bad when it first came out. So did windows xp. Windows xp blue screened all the time before sp1 mainly due to crappy 3rd party drivers.

@stevejust: The ads are effective because, unfortunately, the ignorant people are the demographic with the largest growth potential for purchasing computers. People who haven't been playing with computers since they were 5 years old are finally getting into it now that there's myspace and last.fm and ugh...Perez Hilton. They're the ones who are going to be sold on the look of the computer (+1 for a Mac), but in this economy, they're more likely to look at the price (+1 for PC).

Bottom line is that there's no perfect computer or computer company out there. Apple charges too much, is too restrictive, and thinks its exhaust port doesn't stink. Microsoft is the big bad monopoly coupled with a bad history of restrictions and vulnerabilities. Linux isn't accessible to a lot of people simply because of the market dominance of Microsoft and Apple.

Oh, this brings me back to the days when Apple wasn't even trying to be affordable. I'd have these conversations with black-turtleneck-type Mac fanbois who would insist that everybody, absolutely EVERYBODY should switch to a Mac. Phrases like "I can't afford a Mac," "I can buy two PCs for the price of one Mac," "I can't tinker with my Mac," and "I would have to buy all my hardware from Apple" failed to penetrate the smooth, Jobs-worshipping thoughtshield in their skulls. They'd just blink a few times and say "But the Mac is so great!"

I hate Macs and the people who buy them. They think that because they pay more than double for a laptop that they are some how better. Not to mention they all think they are immune to viruses and crashes.

Unless they're hiring actors (yes I know, one girl was an actor, but there's no evidence everyone else was (or that she was asked to do it because she was an actress (or even that she was told what to do when she was hired (but that's beside the point I'm making anyway (god I love parentheticals))))) AND telling them what to buy, I don't see Apple's point - do they have a laptop for less than a grand after tax? I honestly don't know.

I also think it's hilarious that two OS makers are fighting over computer sales instead of just OS sales.

The Microsoft commercials were obviously some sort of reply to the "I'm a Mac and I'm a PC" commercials that Apple ran so many of.. Those PC-bashing things were allllways on. So, after Windows made an ad that said they were *gasp* cheaper, Apple did the same thing that Windows (probably) did. They sent them a heartfelt message saying to stop. now.. please. These ads may not have conveyed exactly the same messages, but it's only fair.

@post_break: Apple and "PC" hardware are essentially the same.

@TehQ: UI counts for something. A lot of people buy them because they like the user interface of the Mac. That might sound superficial to you, but it's a good reason for most unsophisticated users.

Well as a real, live consumer who recently purchased a PC laptop for $549, when the equivalent Apple laptop would have cost something like $2499, I can't much argue with the premise of the commercial.

@anduin: i'm an illustrator/designer and i do all my graphic design work on a pc. i used to work at a company that made us use macs for graphic design and they sucked. i went thru 4 macs in my 3yrs there. one of them being the 'cube', does anyone remember that one, with no fan. i'm sick of everyone always thinking that macs are a must have for graphic design. tho for video editing i've heard otherwise. /shrug

@johnva:

I don't care how pretty or easy to use the UI is, it's NOT worth another thousand-plus dollars.

@Vanilla5: That's what I said. I switched back to PC's about 2006 and haven't looked back.

@Vanilla5:
OSX: the official operating system of poor punctuation.

@Swizzler121: because "your friend" is so much better at this than Apple is? Really?

Macs are nothing but status symbols. Who in their right mind would pay thousands of dollars for something whose equivalent can be had for less than half that price? I don't care how pretty macs are or how 'easy' they are to use(I personally think PCs are far easier to use, but whatev), there is NO justifying their prices. Other than AppleGreed & the fanboys willing to pay big bucks for a symbol, I mean.

Right on, Microsoft. Stick it to 'em. Keep pointing out how FOOLISH is it to waste money on a brand name & a shiny case. Apple sucks. It's so much fun for them to talk shit about PCs but when someone does it to them, here come the cease 'n' desist letters. BOO HOO. Apple = CRYBABIES. They can sure dish it out but they can't take it.

PC girl for life!

@jaya9581: If you had a Mac AppleCare would cover the replacement of your keyboard

@TehQ:

I second that. Every Mac user I know is an elitist snob who sits in the coffeshop making sure everyone sees them typing on their macbooks while talking on their iPhones. It's actually kinda funny.

I'm sure Mac users exist who are NOT snobby d-bags, but I have yet to meet one. There is no reason to buy a $2000 laptop other than snobbery.

@Ferris152: Who cares about the look of a computer if there's no DVD drive, or only one USB port?

@Kabukistar: lol

@post_break: I like how you didn't explain your dislike of Microsoft's operating system(s).

Because Apple never airs misleading commercials about Microsoft products.

@Kabukistar: +1

Grammar nazi for life. For shizzle.

@morganlh85: Got mine for $350! Plus, I'm also not an actor! :D

@ceriphim:

So they paid an actress, so what? It doesn't change the fact that Macs are indeed grossly overpriced. The commercials speak the truth, theres no arguing with that.

@morganlh85: Yeah, a while ago I went through the Dell, HP, and Apple stores, and customized a PC with the same specs, and the Mac would have cost about three times more.

@Jim Topoleski: Justin Long is doing those Mac commercials for free, right?

@kabuk1: I saw the ultimate snobbery d-bagness the other day. Some guy driving one of those tiny Smart cars with an Apple sticker on the back window. He probably thought he was the coolest person on the planet.

As someone working IT, I'd switch to Linux before I'd ever go Mac. And I've gotten bored with Linux pretty quickly after the novelty wore off.

As for the ads, it's quid pro quo. Send out the wahmbulance for Apple's legal team. I'm actually surprised Microsoft hasn't put out an ad aimed at pushing the netbook market. As long as they establish that the user in the ad is looking for something ultraportable to accomplish lightweight tasks, it's fine.