Apple Targets Windows 7 With Three New 'Get a Mac' Ads

[Augure]

"This smells like fear and desperation on Apple's part. Attack me in 3-2-1... "

Couldn't agree more.

Because if Windows 7 DO not have all these annoying problems we know, then yes, not only people will stick up with Windows but also I know a lot of Mac users who are tired of the lack of innovation and ready to switch back.

I think I'll go for the Snow Leopard + W7 virtualization solution at first, and we'll see...

 

[Eidorian]

Alright. I'll relent and nominate you one of the good ones.

Knowing is half the battle.

 

[mytdave]

Reality

I see a lot of nit-picking on both sides here. And is Apple perfect? No way. But regardless of your preference, look at the big picture here that only boneheaded people would miss. Over All:

1. MacOS has always been Windows' superior.
2. Microsoft has copied almost every single aspect of MacOS since the very beginning. And now they're doing it all over again with iPod, iPhone, stores, etc., etc.
3. Microsoft has engaged in illegal predatory practices (not an opinion - it's fact - it's in the public court records, go look).
4. Windows has been a disaster in security and stability.
5. Microsoft seems incapable of coming up with original ideas of their own.
6. Most people don't really enjoy their PCs. They either don't know any better, are afraid to try something new, or just use Windows "cause everyone else does."

These are the things Apple's commercials humorously address. I too think it's time for a new campaign, but the numbers seem to bear out the success of their marketing.

 

[tbrinkma]

Try editing some AVCHD on OSX. You know, with those USB HD cams that Steve Jobs used as justification for getting rid of firewire on the old macbooks. I'd like to hear his explanation on that one.

Not sure what point you thought you were making here. I've edited AVCHD footage (shot on a Sony vidcam) on more than one occasion. iMovie '09. No problems.

 

[zweigand]

You don't know what you're talking about. I can build a PC for a fraction of the price of a Mac with far superior components. The parts inside your Mac are no different than what you'll find in a Dell or HP. You're kidding yourself if you think a Mac is built with better components. I'll take Corsair PSU's, Gigabyte MOBO's, ect anyday.

Come back when you build an all in one

Sure, anyone who wants to spend hours researching motherboards, CPUs, GPUs, Power Supplies, Cooling equipment, Optical Drives, and all the possible conflicts between them can get a PC put together for less money. It also helps if you forget the case altogether and just duct tape everything.

Then, go learn what it takes to make it into a hackintosh that has no technical support whatsoever. Sounds like a deal …sign me up.

 

[patrickmacrumor]

Couldn't agree more.

Because if Windows 7 DO not have all these annoying problems we know, then yes, not only people will stick up with Windows but also I know a lot of Mac users who are tired of the lack of innovation and ready to switch back.

I think I'll go for the Snow Leopard + W7 virtualization solution at first, and we'll see...

I, too, sense some fear from Apple. I know some who have already switched back to Windows. They were kind of fed from the lack of innovation and were just waiting for the arrival of Windows 7.

The fact that Apple updated its product lines and cut prices just before Windows 7 launch and had three ads ready targetting Windows 7 ready say a lot.

 

[mytdave]

Better than

Funny, what was the Apple OS like when Windows 95 and 98 were out? Yeh, nothing to brag about. Actually, it should be a source of shame. Oh, and lets not even get stated on 10.0.

Actually MacOS 8/9 was every bit as good as Win95/98. Where do you think MS got their ideas? Even without preemption and protected memory 9 was still more stable than Windows. MacOS 10.0 was pretty lame, but they had to get version 1 out the door to force development.

 

[ValSalva]

More desperate

These ads do seem a bit more desperate. With XP being ancient and then the Vista problems the ads could be more laid back and clever. Not the case here.

Most of the problems in the Windows world are not Microsoft's. As margins came down the PC makers have released lower quality machines.

I used to swear by Dell. The second to last Dell laptop I bought (M1330) had loose trim, a hard drive sticking out, and appalling screen backlighting leakage. The last, a Dell Precision M4400, had a god-awful, unusable touchpad and buttons layout. It was only usable with a mouse.

I think the quality of Dell, HP, and Acer have made more people switch to Mac than these ads ever have. I'm extremely happy with my 15" MBP from June. Best hardware I've ever owned.

 

[maven8]

I see a lot of nit-picking on both sides here. And is Apple perfect? No way. But regardless of your preference, look at the big picture here that only boneheaded people would miss. Over All:

1. MacOS has always been Windows' superior.
2. Microsoft has copied almost every single aspect of MacOS since the very beginning. And now they're doing it all over again with iPod, iPhone, stores, etc., etc.
3. Microsoft has engaged in illegal predatory practices (not an opinion - it's fact - it's in the public court records, go look).
4. Windows has been a disaster in security and stability.
5. Microsoft seems incapable of coming up with original ideas of their own.
6. Most people don't really enjoy their PCs. They either don't know any better, are afraid to try something new, or just use Windows "cause everyone else does."

Tell you what. Since we're just going to pull OPINIONS out of thin air, tell me what's better, Canon or Nikon? SACD or DVDA? Maya or 3dsmax? Seagate or Western Digital? ATI or NVIDIA? Should I go on?

Despite how you're trying to spin it, it all boils down to personal opinion. All of these things use similar technology that may or may not be lifted from eachother or from others. Stop trying to act like your opinions are facts.

 

[macswitcha2]

In before the critics. Yes, the concept is getting a little long in the tooth... but these are some effective new ads.

Right, effective for people who do not think logically. These commercials are full of logical fallacies.


What Apple is saying is that Windows 7 is an inferior software because of the failures if Windows Vista? So Windows 7 is guilty by association? Not to mention that it is a genetic fallacy. Should Windows attack OS X because of it's previous issues and the new issues because of the instability of Snow Leopard?

And

What does Apple's customer satisfaction have to do with Windows 7? Nothing!

These commercials are crap and can easily be dismantled.

 

[macswitcha2]

These Mac commercials are starting to get sensational. What they need to do at this point is stick with advertising the nature of their product and not use logical fallacies to make their product look superior. Thumbs down for these new commercials!

 

[dernhelm]

What does costumer Apple's customer satisfaction have to do with Windows 7? Nothing!

These commercials are crap and can easily be dismantled.

Huh? These commercials are targeting the well documented fact that an upgrade from Win XP to Win 7 amounts to clean-installing Win 7 and "migrating" (e.g. reinstalling) all your applications and manually moving all your data. I'm not sure why this is (I don't think it's like that for Vista) but it certainly leaves a gaping hole for Apple to exploit in their marketing.

Apple can legitimately argue (due to the help you can receive at Genius bar) that migrating from Win XP to OS/X is actually easier than migrating from Win XP to Win 7, although that would neglect the fact that many of your applications are different, etc - so that would be a bit of an absurd claim (and it isn't one that anyone is making).

But Apple's point is, if you've got to go reinstall all your software anyway, why not look at a computer whose customer satisfaction rating is actually very high? There is nothing invalid, incorrect, or bogus about that statement.

 

[paradox00]

Right, effective for people who do not think logically. These commercials are full of logical fallacies.


What Apple is saying is that Windows 7 is an inferior software because of the failures if Windows Vista? So Windows 7 is guilty by association? Not to mention that it is a genetic fallacy. Should Windows attack OS X because of it's previous issues and the new issues because of the instability of Snow Leopard?

And

What does Apple's customer satisfaction have to do with Windows 7? Nothing!

These commercials are crap and can easily be dismantled.

You actually did a very poor job of dismantling them, despite how easy you claim it is. you also don't understand the thought process of the average consumer (which isn't necessarily logical).

The ad in question attempts to paint a picture that Microsoft's claims to how great the operating system is can't be trusted, simply because they have a history of not meeting expectations. Whether or not that is true is largely irrelevant for this ad.

Lets say you get a kid to house sit for you. When you get home, you notice stuff has been stolen.

Next time you go out of town, you get the same kid to house sit. His parents told you that he is more responsible now and he will be severely punished if anything goes missing. You come home again and more stuff is missing.

This process repeats itself until you decide that the parents claims of a reformed kid simply can't be trusted. Whether or not he has gotten better is now irrelevant, he is out of chances.

That is the kind of imagery Apple tries to paint with that ad. If you don't think that is effective, I know a kid that will house sit for you.

 

[LagunaSol]

You don't know what you're talking about. I can build a PC for a fraction of the price of a Mac with far superior components. The parts inside your Mac are no different than what you'll find in a Dell or HP. You're kidding yourself if you think a Mac is built with better components. I'll take Corsair PSU's, Gigabyte MOBO's, ect over the generic Mac garbage you fools worship anyday. Then again I'm not a mindless fanboy nibbling on Steve Jobs c#%*.

Maybe not a fanboy, but apparently mindless. I didn't say you couldn't build a PC cheaper. I didn't say the parts in my Mac are any different than PC parts. Read first, comment second.

I'm saying it's no longer worth my time and effort to cobble together a home-built PC, with their ugly (it's true!) cases, and Windows (generally) as their OS.

Troll Different.

What does Apple's customer satisfaction have to do with Windows 7? Nothing!

O RLY?

 

[ericinboston]

1)I think the Broken Promises ad is hysterical! I'm a Windows XP fan (9+ years now) and also have a Mac but the add just makes me laugh with his devilish "trust me, everything is gonna be ok" comment-style! Not that it is true, but just the characters, clothing, and the acting and the repetitiveness is funny as hell.

2)The BP ad, however, can really be done with ANY product in the world that has a successor...refrigerators, cars, cell phones, lawn tractors, etc.

3)I agree that the Apple commercials, in general, have steered clear of what Apple can do for you and concentrate more on what PCs are (presumably) bad at. This is advertising...advertising and marketing is all spin.

I really don't follow the Mac OS discussions...for me and a good percentage of COMPUTER users out there, any OS (Mac, Windows, Linux) will offer a similar GUI and look and feel and basics such as web surfing, home networking, printing, Office suites, music player, etc. and has done so for almost 10 years.

When people really get focused on using a computer 8+ hours a day for a particular use case (video editing for example) is when that user probably REALLY cares about CHOOSING the right PLATFORM (it's not just the OS) and APPLICATIONS they wish to use to make their lives easier.

Apple seems to have perfectly targeted the Windows7 launch with great new Apple iMacs (yet are still too expensive for my blood) and then these commercials...which if people really listen to the fact that Windows users must start over, they might as well as try a Mac if they can afford it and if their computer-use-case won't be poorly affected.


-Eric

 

[jcrowe]

Apple's Windows 7 bashing ads...bogus or just marketing?

Right, effective for people who do not think logically. These commercials are full of logical fallacies.

This is true, but commercials are marketing. Surely you don't think that TV ads convince anybody to buy Windows based PCs or Macs who employ logic in their buying decisions? For naive users, I think, Macs have been a win because out of the box they are an easier experience to use generally speaking. These ads are not targeted to technically savvy people.

What Apple is saying is that Windows 7 is an inferior software because of the failures if Windows Vista? So Windows 7 is guilty by association? Not to mention that it is a genetic fallacy. Should Windows attack OS X because of it's previous issues and the new issues because of the instability of Snow Leopard?

Again, both Windows 7 and Mac OS X have good and bad points, especially to power users and people who have a long history in computer science. But that's not who these ads will address. I think they are funny, but getting a little tedious....OTOH, I never watch television so my only exposure is on the net. From a marketing perspective, they must be effective because Apple is selling a lot of Macs.

And

What does Apple's customer satisfaction have to do with Windows 7? Nothing!

These commercials are crap and can easily be dismantled.

Well, frankly that can be said of damn near every commercial I've ever seen on television. That said, I'm glad Windows 7 has come out and I hope that its release will push Apple to raise the bar still a bit. The packaging of the new iMacs with Snow Leopard should, IMO, be the focus of some TV ads. There are no other AIOs, that I can find, that offer similar deals at any price. Of course, I'm still actively using a 4.5 year old G5 iMac, along with my homebuilt PClone, which should be able to run Windows 7 but will not due to price of the OS.

 

[maven8]

Huh? These commercials are targeting the well documented fact that an upgrade from Win XP to Win 7 amounts to clean-installing Win 7 and "migrating" (e.g. reinstalling) all your applications and manually moving all your data. I'm not sure why this is (I don't think it's like that for Vista) but it certainly leaves a gaping hole for Apple to exploit in their marketing.

How is that any different then the move from OS9 to OSX? In fact the similarities don't end there since OSX had a sort of virtual OS9 mode at first, just like 7 has a virtual XP mode. You're talking about a transition from an OS that came out in 2001 to one that came out in 2009. Re-installing is not an unreasonable thing to expect!

But Apple's point is, if you've got to go reinstall all your software anyway, why not look at a computer whose customer satisfaction rating is actually very high? There is nothing invalid, incorrect, or bogus about that statement.

Because buying a new mac will cost you at least 600 dollars and you would still have to re-purchase all your software for mac. How is that easy?!

 

[LagunaSol]

And I completely agree with you. I don't have time for that either. If I want to game I have my PS3.

I just picked up a PS3 myself - couldn't resist after the price break. Enjoying some Uncharted 2.

Now I'm hoping someone figures out a way to connect the PS3 to the new iMacs - perfect gaming solution.

Antec cases are beautiful btw.

Meh. The only decent-looking case I ever found (and I looked long and hard) was the Coolermaster Wavemaster, and they don't make that one any longer. I'm not sure why build-your-own PC cases have to look so cheap and cheesy (even the Antec ones, which are admittedly the best out there, but they still look like DIY machines). Can't someone craft a case that looks as nice as a Mac Pro or an HP Blackbird for the DIY market? Do I really need a half-dozen drive bay blanks staring me in the face? Who uses all those anymore, really?

 

[macswitcha2]

Huh? These commercials are targeting the well documented fact that an upgrade from Win XP to Win 7 amounts to clean-installing Win 7 and "migrating" (e.g. reinstalling) all your applications and manually moving all your data. I'm not sure why this is (I don't think it's like that for Vista) but it certainly leaves a gaping hole for Apple to exploit in their marketing.

a little inconvenience in the transferring process says nothing about the software itself.

Apple can legitimately argue (due to the help you can receive at Genius bar) that migrating from Win XP to OS/X is actually easier than migrating from Win XP to Win 7, although that would neglect the fact that many of your applications are different, etc - so that would be a bit of an absurd claim (and it isn't one that anyone is making).

In other words, apple is getting desperate and reaching for anything that may work to deter people from staying with Windows.

But Apple's point is, if you've got to go reinstall all your software anyway, why not look at a computer whose customer satisfaction rating is actually very high? There is nothing invalid, incorrect, or bogus about that statement.

But that was not their point. Their point was don't get Windows 7 because our customer satisfaction is number one. That says nothing about Windows 7.

 

[Terminal.app]

I'm still waiting for the ads that will tout OS X's secure UNIX base and clean, easy-to-use UI.

 

[Eidorian]

I'm still waiting for the ads that will tout OS X's secure UNIX base and clean, easy-to-use UI.

Why would anyone want hear about that?

Finder is a hit or miss subject. I've grown rather attached to certain Explorer behaviors under Windows 7.

 

[macswitcha2]

You actually did a very poor job of dismantling them, despite how easy you claim it is. you also don't understand the thought process of the average consumer (which isn't necessarily logical).

The fact that you will point out that the average consumer does not think logical shows that I did do a good job at dismantling apple's sensational advertisements.

Lets say you get a kid to house sit for you. When you get home, you notice stuff has been stolen.

Next time you go out of town, you get the same kid to house sit. His parents told you that he is more responsible now and he will be severely punished if anything goes missing. You come home again and more stuff is missing.

This process repeats itself until you decide that the parents claims of a reformed kid simply can't be trusted. Whether or not he has gotten better is now irrelevant, he is out of chances.

And that's your analogy for Windows 7? The weakness in that analogy is that Windows 7 is not Windows Vista. Thus, you're not getting the same kid, your getting a different one.

 

[CQd44]

Didn't windows 7 beat harry potter in number of presales? At least on amazon.

 

[dernhelm]

How is that any different then the move from OS9 to OSX? In fact the similarities don't end there since OSX had a sort of virtual OS9 mode at first, just like 7 has a virtual XP mode. You're talking about a transition from an OS that came out in 2001 to one that came out in 2009. Re-installing is not an unreasonable thing to expect!

The fact is that there were many, many people who stayed with XP because they didn't like Vista, and this is the first time since then that they are actually looking to upgrade. I don't care if XP is 8 years old, this is the first time many many people have finally decided to upgrade. The parallels are simply not there for OS9, because you could not find anyone still looking to upgrade from OS9. For many of these XP upgraders it is going to mean getting a new computer, people who buy expensive things often look at Consumer Report's ratings and things like that.

There was an article (either here or at ArsTechnica I forget where) that showed that with every new Microsoft OS release, Apple has seen a sales uptick. EVERY SINGLE ONE. Them's the facts. Upgrading from XP isn't a no brainer, so there is opportunity there for Apple, and they are looking to exploit it.

You can't blame them, or call them stupid. It's how marketing works.

Apple thinks they have a large percentage of needs covered with their bundled software (iCal, Mail, etc.) and their iLife and iWorks suites. Most of which are free or ridiculously cheap. They are probably right, at least for many people; it no longer matters to me since I made the switch years ago - before it was popular, so all my software is already mac based.

So if your computer comes with the software you need already installed on it (with nothing you don't want), it is rated very highly in customer satisfaction, you won't generally have to deal with viruses and such, the software and OS you get is generally rated higher in usability to the counterparts you would receive on the competitors brand, and your resale value is some of the best in the industry, is that worth $600 to you?

Apparently some people think that "yes" is the answer to that. You may not. That's fine too.

 

[doctor-don]

No, you cannot get a Core i7 desktop chip in an iMac. They use laptop components - it's basically just a laptop turned on its side and on a fancy metal stand.

From http://www.apple.com/imac/specs.html

Processor and memory
21.5-inch and 27-inch models, one of the following:
• 3.06GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor with 3MB shared L2 cache
• 3.33GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor with 6MB shared L2 cache

27-inch models only, one of the following:
• 2.66GHz quad-core Intel Core i5 processor with 8MB shared L3 cache; Turbo Boost dynamic performance up to 3.2GHz
• 2.8GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 processor with 8MB shared L3 cache; Turbo Boost dynamic performance up to 3.46GHz; Hyper-Threading for up to eight virtual cores

4GB (two 2GB SO-DIMMs) of 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM; four SO-DIMM slots support up to 16GB

Configure your iMac now, only at the Apple Online Store.
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Do a little research before opening your mouth and letting everyone know you are ignorant. Everything else you said is totally disregarded now.