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Best Presentation - 100 Reasons for Vista vs. 300 Features for Leopard?

Cleverboy

Cleverboy

macrumors 65816
Original poster
May 25, 2007
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Pocket Universe, nth Dimensional Complex Manifold
Both marketing companies knew that they had quite a lot of features to communicate to potential customers. Microsoft's crew came up with "100 reasons why everyone's so speechless", while Apple's group came up with "300+ New Features - Even Leopard Innovations have innovations". Which presentation do you find to be the most effective?

Microsoft Windows Vista - 100 Reasons Why Everyone's So Speechless
Seeing Windows Vista for the first time
may leave you searching for words.
Many people just say “Wow.”
Here are 100 reasons why.
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/windowsvista/100reasons.mspx
VIDEO TOURS

Apple MacOS X Leopard - 300+ New Features
With 300+ new features, Leopard is the
most impressive Mac OS X version yet.
Even Leopard innovations have innovations.
http://www.apple.com/macosx/features/300.html
VIDEO TOUR

Who do you think makes a more convincing case for their OS upgrade and why?

Personally, I've been a little put out by Microsoft's video editting. While I really dig their modal ajax video overlays... It amounts to a collection of sound bites with new age music behind it, and the camera keeps swishing around the OS so that I have a hard time getting a feel for what they're showing me. God help me if I had to go duplicate what they showed me after getting the OS installed.

From its ajax search to its plain speaking Mac Genius narrated guided tours, I don't really have much to criticise about Apple. I keep coming back to Microsoft's website trying to get a half-way decent feel. Even walking into a store left me dissatisfied after trying to work the "gadgets" in Vista (possible the machine was screwed up, but there were only one or two gadgets on it).

Who do you folks think is winning the "presentation" war? There was a time decades past, where retail stores ran Apple Easy Open (a simple launcher application on the Mac), and a canned DEMO that looped over and over. Nowadays, at least in the Apple store (or substores) you can walk in and start using Photoshop or Garageband. Many PC demos of new offerings like Vista still lack that kind of savvy.

~ CB
 
Considering I have not used a PC since 1997 I'd have to say I followed the Apple one more, even though I never really studied them as much as you have.
 
This is just like a Colin Powell presentation vs. Al Gore presentation. One was telling lies, the other will be verified soon.
 
I really liked the "Choose your edition" tab :rolleyes:

For crying out loud just make one edition! Cheap bastards!!!

Nuc
 
While the production quality on it is not very good, this no-nonsense quick "guided tour" of Vista, much in the spirit of Apple's tour, is provided by The Test Bed:
http://labs.pcw.co.uk/2007/01/video_review_mi_1.html

I tried looking at another one by CNET for Vista Ultimate, and they did a crummier job, managing to zoom in specifically on "action" areas, losing all sense of context and separate the sections with white type on flat black (yikes) providing little continuity. Their "quick look" video review was accompanied by this somewhat damning commentary, and left little to crow about:
The bottom line: Windows Vista is essentially warmed-over Windows XP. If you're currently happy with Windows XP SP2, we see no compelling reason to upgrade. On the other hand, if you need a new computer right now, Windows Vista is stable enough for everyday use.
Click to expand...
Why isn't anyone demonstrating Windows Meeting Space or Live Meeting? When you compare a Microsoft run demo of speech recognition under Vista...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kX8oYoYy2Gc
Versus one done by an independant party:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgJyqvcAXe0
You have to wonder why Microsoft isn't doing more to demostrate and distribute those demos under controlled conditions? Are too many people spoiling the broth when it comes to sheparding Microsoft's marketing efforts? The second video link is pretty impressive in my opinion.
Nuc said:
I really liked the "Choose your edition" tab :rolleyes:
For crying out loud just make one edition! Cheap bastards!!!
Nuc
Click to expand...
It's complete insanity.

~ CB
 
Microsoft is clearly winning. Look at all the people dreading the fact they have to pay for and install Leopard. Contrast the excitement that greeted Vista and all the happy customers today.
[/sarcasm]
 
Talking about the webpages, not the videos here:
Do you think Apple could have perhaps not put all 300 on the same page?
Too much info for anyone just wanting to hear something.
For that reason alone, I say windows is a little better because you're not surrounded by text after text.
Either way I don't really care, because I'm not going to use either for a very long time.
 
On modern hardware there is NO reason except cost for 99% of Tiger users not to switch to Leopard.

On modern hardware there are MULTIPLE reasons excluding cost for many XP users not to switch to Vista. These include slowdowns, compatibility issues and irritating 'features'...
 
psychofreak said:
On modern hardware there is NO reason except cost for 99% of Tiger users not to switch to Leopard.

On modern hardware there are MULTIPLE reasons excluding cost for many XP users not to switch to Vista. These include slowdowns, compatibility issues and irritating 'features'...
Click to expand...
99% might be your caveat, but I know a number of people are waiting to upgrade to Leopard, just to insure compatibility. I think compatibility issues ranked amongst some of the final outstanding bugs. Not sure where the sword will finally fall on some of those issues.

I agree though, Apple's generally very good about backwards compatibility (while being somewhat less concerned when introducing forward compatibility issues). For instance, on Windows the Safari 3.0 Beta is marketed as being for XP and Vista, yet I installed it on a Windows 2000 laptop the other day without so much as a squirm of complaint. Meanwhile, if your Mac software says to use Tiger, odds are, it won't even tell you it won't work, the icon will just stop bouncing and you'll need to figure it out for yourself. A qualm for a different thread I guess.

~ CB
 
killerrobot said:
Talking about the webpages, not the videos here:
Do you think Apple could have perhaps not put all 300 on the same page?
Too much info for anyone just wanting to hear something.
For that reason alone, I say windows is a little better because you're not surrounded by text after text.
Either way I don't really care, because I'm not going to use either for a very long time.
Click to expand...

Apple also has Leopard update things all round the website, its just nice to see 300 together...
 
since its been forever since ive upgraded the os on my mac from os9 to 10.2 then to 10.4 i forget if previous apps tend to work well under new os.

anybody have a better recollection than i do?

my big one is office v.x mainly
 
dukebound85 said:
since its been forever since ive upgraded the os on my mac from os9 to 10.2 then to 10.4 i forget if previous apps tend to work well under new os.

anybody have a better recollection than i do?

my big one is office v.x mainly
Click to expand...

I don't know if that will work, but right now I recommend you try NeoOffice if it doesn't :)

IMO Neo is better than Office v.x
 
psychofreak said:
I don't know if that will work, but right now I recommend you try NeoOffice if it doesn't :)

IMO Neo is better than Office v.x
Click to expand...

yea i have tried it but for some cases it doesnt cut it yet. maybe i cant figure it out but one case i need is do you know how to iterate circular references in neooffice? if so ill consider it again but i could not get it to work when i played with it
 
Honestly, neither web site is very good. The microsoft "reasons" are rather pathetic, especially #1: "It makes using your PC a breeze." Yeesh, Microsoft, it only took you 26 years to make an OS that's easy to use?

But Apple's site is overwhelming. 300 features? What if I don't know or care what "automator" is -- that's one of the first features in their list.

The Apple video wins hands-down. The windows video never explains anything. It's like an airplane flying over your computer. How does that tell me whether I want their software?
 
Well it's alphabetical, so it's not surprising Automator is first.

That's the full spec list. Go to apple.com and you can have a look at other pages outlining the major features.

The MS page won't even load for me and I'm stuck on a white page. Looks like they couldn't think of one reason to get Vista, but I can easily think of one reason not to - OS X.
 
AlexisV said:
Looks like they couldn't think of one reason to get Vista, but I can easily think of one reason not to - OS X.
Click to expand...

Heehee, I like that.

I agree on all the comments regarding the presentation videos both companies offer. Apples videos make you want to use the OS where as Microsoft just leaves you feeling sick.

On the other-hand, I'm so fed up with picture perfect, tongue-in-throat images they all use. They try and sell the perfect life along with the system. At least Apple doesn't use god-awful voice actors like the Vista site. American accents need to be chosen carefully, some are a tad...excitable? The US woman on most of the Vista videos grates on my fragile and delicate british ears :D
 
I think a large portion of Windows-lifers saying "Wow!" to Vista is because they've been looking at the same old OS in XP since 2001. At this point, anything new is "Wow" worthy.
 
OSX Oses are small updates thats evolutionary while Windows updates are revolutionary.
 
Ariez said:
OSX Oses are small updates thats evolutionary while Windows updates are revolutionary.
Click to expand...

You're just regurgitating marketing FUD that's been crammed into your brain. There's nothing more revolutionary about Vista then there is about most OS X upgrades.
 
yoyo5280 said:
I think that apple's is better. 300 features makes it sound... like it has a lot of features.
Apples tours are boring, but better. They show you the things in a clearer and TRUE way.
Click to expand...
It's funny... you say "boring", while I say "concise". The Windows videos on Microsoft's website irritate me most because they keep changing the camera angle, using short phrases, and zooming in and out of things... I get the impression that they do this to make it "interesting", when in the end, I'm left with LITTLE idea why I'd want to buy the product.

Aside from Windows Media Center (which has always looked great), I get the impression that there are a few other cool "looking" features that would benefit from common sense demo. I'm sure there must be new "mail" features they could demo, like Leopard's "data detectors", or they could even show off IE's new "thumbnail" views (although people using Foxspose won't be impressed). Why do "demos" at tradeshows, and not on your own website? I don't get that.

~ CB
 
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